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American  Actor  Series 


EDITED    BY    LAURENCE    HUTTON 


"A  name 
Noble  and  brave  as  aught  of  consular 
On  Roman  marbles."  —  Byron. 


AMERICAN  ACTOR    SERIES 


THE   JEFFERSONS 


BY 


WILLIAM    WINTER 


2Httrj  Illustrations 


m 


BOSTON 

JAMES    R.   OSGOOD    AND    COMPANY 

1881 


Copyright,  i88r, 
By  James  R.  Osgood  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved. 


i 


*     ■ 


University  Press: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


1 


M 


^ 


d>  CL>  o  CD 


Eljis  fftrmorial  of  tfje  3rffcrsons 

IS    DEDICATED    BY    ITS    AUTHOR 
TO   THEIR   FAMOUS    KINSMAN 

WILLIAM     WARREN, 

ACTOR,    SCHOLAR,   AND   COMRADE, 

WHOSE 

QUAINT    AND    TENDER    GENIUS 

IN     DRAMATIC    ART 

HAS    GIVEN     HAPPINESS    TO    THOUSANDS, 

AND 

WHOSE    EXALTED    VIRTUES  AND    GENTLE    LIFE 

HAVE     MADE     HIM 

AN  EXAMPLE  AND  AN  HONOR 

TO  THE  STAGE  AND  THE  COMMUNITY. 


19.5940 


PREFACE. 


The  Garrick  period  in  the  history  of  the  British  stage,  which 
is  the  period  of  Jefferson  the  First,  has  been  so  fully  described  by 
many  writers  that  the  present  biographer  has  felt  justified  in  as- 
suming that  it  is  well  known,  and  therefore  has  touched  but  lightly 
upon  it,  in  recounting  what  is  ascertained  of  this  actor.  A  certain- 
amount  of  quotation  from  old  chronicles,  however,  has  been  deemed 
essential,  for  the  sake  of  a  basis  of  authority,  and  also  for  the  sake 
of  local  color.  In  describing  the  career  of  Jefferson  the  Second 
there  was  an  opportunity  to  dwell  with  minute  attention  on  the 
storied  days  of  the  old  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  in  Philadelphia, — 
an  institution  which  has  never  been  equalled,  for  dignity,  for  intel- 
lectual resources,  or  for  splendor  of  associations,  in  the  history  of 
the  stage  in  America  ;  but  it  has  not  been  possible,  within  the  limits 
prescribed  for  this  biography,  to  give  more  than  a  passing  glance 
across  that  fertile  and  teeming  field.  Jefferson  the  Third,  his 
sister  Elizabeth,  his  wife  {Mrs.  C.  F.  Burke-Jefferson),  and  his 
step-son  (Charles  S.  T.  Burke)  are  commemorated  here,  and  men- 
tion is  made  of  all  known  scions  of  the  family  ;  the  writer  s  de- 
sign being  to  suggest  this  race  of  actors  in  its  relation  to  the  times 
through  which  it  has  moved,  and  to  make  an  authentic  ground- 
work for  the  researches  and  illustrative  embellishments  of  future 
theatrical  inquirers.     A  considerable  space  will  be  found  allotted 


viii  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

to  the  personation  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  by  Jefferson  the  Fourth  ; 
but  this  allotment  seems  warranted  by  the  great  importance  and 
phenomenal  career  of  a  work  which  for  nearly  twenty  years  has 
engrossed  more  of  the  public  attention  than  any  other  single  dra- 
matic performance  of  this  generation.  Not  Edwin  Booth's  Ham- 
let, nor  Ristori's  Queen  Elizabeth,  nor  Charles  A'ean's  Louis  XL., 
nor  Seebach's  Marguerite,  nor  Adelaide  JVeilson's  Juliet,  nor  Sal- 
z'inPs  Othello  has  so  towered  in  popularity,  or  so  dominated  con- 
temporary thought  upon  the  influence  of  the  stage. 

Every  writer  who  touches  upon  the  history  of  the  drama  in 
America  must  acknowledge  his  obligation  for  guidance  and  aid,  to 
the  thorough,  faithful,  and  suggestive  Records  made  by  the  veteran 
historian,  Joseph  N.  Ireland.  In  the  composition  of  this  biography 
reference  has  frequently  been  made  to  that  work.  Many  other  au- 
thorities, likewise,  have  been  consulted.  Among  them  are  Bernard's 
Retrospections  of  the  Stage,  Tate  Wilkinson's  Memoirs,  Ryley's 
Itinerant,  The  Biographia  Dramatica,  The  Thespian  Dictionary, 
John  Taylor's  Records,  Cumberland' s  British  Theatre,  Davics's 
Life  of  Garrick,  Gilliland's  Dramatic  Mirror,  H.  B.  Baker's 
English  Actors,  Winston's  Theatric  Tourist,  Cowell's  Thirty 
Years,  George  Anne  Bellamy's  Apology,  John  Gait's  Lives  of  the 
Players,  Wood's  Personal  Recollections,  Dunlap's  History  of  the 
American  Theatre,  Wemyss's  Theatrical  Biography,  Clapp's 
Record  of  the  Boston  Stage,  Sol  Smith's  Theatrical  Management, 
Bernard's  Early  Days  of  the  American  Stage,  Phelps's  Players 
of  a  Century,  Ludlow's  Dramatic  Life,  The  Mirror  of  Taste, 
Hutlon's  Plays  and  Players,  Rees's  Dramatic  Authors  of  Amer- 
ica, Brown's  History  of  the  American  Stage,  Ansmi's  Almanac, 
and  the  Almanac  of  the  London  Era.  Various  private  sources 
of  information,  also,  have  been  explored,  —  the  writer  having 
prof  ted  by  the  personal  recollections  of  several  members  of  the 


PREFACE.  ix 

"Jefferson  family,  and  by  the  tiseful  suggestions  of  friendly  cor- 
respondents,—  aiiiong  whom  should  particularly  be  mentioned 
Air.  John  T.  Ford,  of  Baltimore,  Mr.  L.  Clarke  Davis,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  that  ripe  theatrical  scholar,  Mr.  Thomas  J.  McKee, 
of  ATew  York.  This  memoir  has,  of  necessity,  been  written  rap- 
idly, and  within  a  brief  time  ;  yet  careful  effort  has  been  made 
to  verify  its  statements  and  to  insure  accuracy  and  fitness  in  its 
illustrations.  The  head  of  Jefferson  the  First  has  been  taken 
from  an  old  English  engraving  ;  the  view  of  the  Plymouth 
Theatre  from  Winston's  Theatric  Tourist ;  the  print  of  Jeffer- 
son the  Second  and  Blissett  from  the  Mirror  of  Taste ;  the  two 
silhouettes  and  the  portraits  of  Mrs.  Jefferson  and  Charles  Burke 
from  originals  in  the  art  collection  of  Jefferson  the  Fourth.  The 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Jefferson  was  painted  by  Neagle,  and  it  shows 
her  as  Jessica.  Neagle  also  painted  a  portrait  of  Jefferson  the 
Second  as  Solus.  The  Rip  Van  Winkle  heads  are  from  engrav- 
ings published  in  Lippincott's  Magazine,  for  July,  I S69,  and  the 
Bob  Acres,  —  obtained  from  Scribner's  Magazine,  —  is  based  on 
an  excellent  photograph  by  Sarony  of  New  York.  Mr.  Hutton 
has  enriched  the  volume  with  a  copious  index,  an  adjunct  indis- 
pensable to  works  of  this  kind. 

The  reader  will  not  find  here  either  a  sermon  on  mortality,  or 
a  philosophical  disquisition  on  the  dramatic  principle,  or  a  defence 
of  the  stage.  It  is  assumed  that  the  achievements  of  an  exception- 
ally talented  family  are  worthy  of  commemoration,  and  that  the 
greatness  and  beauty  of  the  dramatic  art  and  the  dignity  and 
utility  of  the  stage  are  known  and  understood,  at  least  by  the  class 
of  readers  to  which  this  book  will  come.  A  simple  biographical 
narrative  is  all  that  has  here  been  attempted.  The  Jefferson 
Family  has  been  on  the  stage,  continuously,  for  five  generations. 
This  memoir  endeavors  to  trace  the  history  of  this  race  of  actors 


X  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

along  its  direct,  hereditary  line,  without  deviation,  through  a 
period  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  The  representa- 
tives of  the  family,  in  lineal  descent,  are  as  follows  :  — 

I.  Thomas  Jefferson 17  28? -1807 

II.  Joseph  Jefferson 1774    - 1832 

III.  Joseph  Jefferson 1804    -  1842 

IV.  Joseph  Jefferson 1829 

V.  Thomas  Jefferson 1857 

Jefferson  the  First  had  his  career  in  England.  Jefferson  the 
Second  was  famous  in  the  days  of  the  old  Chestnut  Street  Theatre, 
Philadelphia.  Jefferson  the  Third  did  not  attain  to  exceptional 
eminence.  Jefferson  the  Fourth  is  Rip  Van  Winkle  ;  and  Jeffer- 
son the  Fifth  is  his  son.  This  enumeration  varies  from  the  one 
hitherto  in  use,  as  it  begins  with  Priam  himself,  and  not  with 
sEneas  ;  with  the  actual  founder  of  the  family,  and  not  with  its 
colonizer  in  a  foreign  land.  Other  members  of  the  Jefferson  race 
have  been  on  the  stage,  and  their  names  and  deeds  are  recorded  in 
the  course  of  this  chronicle. 

IV.  IV. 

Fort  Hill,  New  Brighton, 

Stateti  Island,  June  27th,  1S81. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Jefferson  the  First  * i 

Jefferson  the  Second 49 

Elizabeth  Jefferson 127 

Jefferson  the  Third 137 

Charles  Burke 151 

Jefferson  the  Fourth 164 

Conclusion 219 

Index 227 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


-*»- 


Jefferson  the  First Frontispiece 

Old  Plymouth  Theatre 26 

Jefferson  the  Second  and  Blissett      ...  52 

Jefferson  the  Third  and  Wife 94 

Mrs.  Burke-Jefferson 122 

C.  Burke  and  Jefferson  Fourth  as  Boys         .        .    146 

Charles  Burke 156 

Jefferson  the  Fourth  as  Rip  Van  Winkle      vi  and  182 
Jefferson  the  Fourth  as  Acres    ....        212 


JEFFERSON    THE    FIRST. 
1728  ?-i8o7- 


"  First,  noble  friend, 

Let  me  embrace  thine  age  ;  whose  honor  cannot 

Be  }neasnred  or  confined? 

Shakespeare. 


JEFFERSON    THE    FIRST. 


The  founder  of  the  Jefferson  Family  of  Actors  was 
Thomas  Jefferson,  the  son  of  an  English  farmer,  and 
he  was  born  at,  or  near  Ripon,  Yorkshire,  England, 
about  the  year  1728,  —  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  George  II.  Nothing  is  known  of  his  parents,  or  of 
the  circumstances  of  his  childhood,  and  the  stories  of 
him  that  have  survived  to  the  present  day  are  meagre 
and  somewhat  contradictory.  One  person,  howeVer, 
who  had  seen  him,  lived  to  our  time,  and  gave  an  ac- 
count of  the  beginning  of  his  stage  career.  This  was 
the  venerable  Mr.  Drinkwater  Meadows,  the  much  re- 
spected veteran  actor,  now  deceased,*  who  saw  Jeffer- 
son the  First,  at  Ripon,  in  1806,  a  feeble  old  man,  sitting 
by  the  fireside,  ill  with  gout  and  tended  by  one  of  his 
daughters.      Mr.  Meadows  had  journeyed  to  Ripon  to 

*  Mr.  Drinkwater  Meadows  was  long  a  useful  and  esteemed 
actor  on  the  London  stage.  He  was  a  comedian,  and  he  made  his  first 
appearance  in  London,  at  Covent  Garden,  in  September,  1821,  acting 
Scrub,  in  "  The  Beaux'  Stratagem.''  He  was  the  original  Fathom,  in 
"  The  Hunchback  "  (1S32).  His  last  appearance  on  the  London  stage 
was  made  at  the  Princess's  Theatre,  in  1862,  and  he  then  quietly  retired 
from  the  profession.  He  occupied,  for  a  considerable  time,  the  nlfice  of 
Secretary  of  the  Covent  Ciarden  Theatrical  Fund,  discharging  its  im- 
portant duties  with  perfect  probity  and  gentle  courtesy.  He  died,  at  his 
residence,  Prairie  Cottage,  Barnes,  on  Saturday,  June  5th,  1S69,  at  about 
the  age  of  eighty.  —  W.  W. 


4  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

visit  one  of  the  aged  actor's  sons,  Lieut.  Frank  Jeffer- 
son, at  one  time  commander  of  the  royal  yacht  in  Vir- 
ginia Water,  at  Windsor ;  and  from  him  he  learned 
certain  particulars  of  old  Thomas  Jefferson's  life,  which 
he  lived  to  relate  to  Thomas  Jefferson's  great-grandson, 
whom  he  saw  upon  the  stage  as  Rip  Van  Winkle,  and 
personally  met,  in  London,  in  1865.  With  this  remi- 
niscence the  chronicle  of  the  family  begins. 

According  to  the  narrative  of  Mr.  Meadows,  Jeffer- 
son the  First,  when  a  youth,  was  a  wild  fellow,  dashing 
and  gay,  and  capable  of  any  intrepidity.  His  person 
was  handsome,  his  bearing  free  and  graceful,  his  intel- 
ligence superior,  his  temperament  merry ;  he  was  a 
frolicsome  companion,  a  capital  equestrian,  and  a  gen- 
eral favorite.  There  presently  came  a  time,  to  this 
young  man,  when  his  skill  in  horsemanship,  his  good 
spirits,  and  his  excellent  faculty  for  singing  a  comic 
song  were  the  means,  if  not  of  making  his  fortune,  at. 
least  of  prescribing  his  career.  The  Jacobite  rebellion 
°f  I745-  — tlie  formidable  uprising  in  the  north  for 
Charles  Edward  Stuart,  "  the  Pretender,"  —  appears  to 
have  been  the  motive  to  this  prosperity ;  so  that,  if  a 
biographer  may  allow  himself  to  take  a  playful  view  of 
a  serious  subject,  it  is  to  the  determined  ambition  of 
the  Stuarts  to  remount  the  British  throne  that  the  present 
epoch  is  indebted  for  Rip  Van  Winkle  on  the  stage 
An  important  dispatch  concerning  this  insurrection 
(perhaps  the  news  of  Charles  Edward's  crushing  defeat 
at  Culloden)  had  come  to  Ripon,  and  was  now  to  be 
conveyed  to  London  ;  and  none  other  than  young 
Thomas  Jefferson  —  who  could  ride  so  well,  and  whose 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  5 

thriving  father  could  mount  him  on  a  thoroughbred 
steed,  for  this  loyal  and  patriotic  journey  —  was  cho- 
sen by  fate  to  be  its  bearer.  He  undertook  this  task, 
and  he  accomplished  it  —  through  what  perils  it  were 
idle  to  conjecture  ;  but  an  equestrian  trip  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty  miles,  through  wild  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
what  with  bad  roads,  highwaymen,  hostile  papists,  and 
the  chances  of  rough  weather,  was  a  serious  business.* 
It  may  be  imagined  that  Thomas  Jefferson  was  a  man 
well  satisfied  with  himself  and  with  fortune,  when  at 
length  his  mission  had  been  fulfilled,  and  he  was  taking 
his  rest  at  the  ancient  White  Hart  Inn,  in  the  Borough 
of  Southwark. 

He  had  arrived  there  just  in  time  to  grasp  the  ex- 
tended hand  of  a  singular  good-fortune.  On  that  very 
night  David  Garrick,  the  wonder  and  delight  of  Lon- 
don, was  feasting  with  a  party  of  friends  in  that  tavern  ; 
and  presently  to  the  merry  circle  of  Roscius  in  the 
parlor  a  laughing  servant  brought  word  of  the  jovial 
young  fellow  from  the  country,  who  was  singing  comic 
songs  and  telling  stories  to  the  less  select  revellers  in 
the  tap-room.  An  immediate  proposition  to  ask  in 
this  pleasant  rustic,  for  a  frolic  over  his  pie-supposed 
awkwardness  and  bumpkin  humor,  met  with  the  favor  of 
(larrick's  companions,  and  so  it  chanced  that  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  invited  to  sit  at  the  table  of  David  Gar- 
rick. Imagination  dwells  pleasurably  on  the  ensuing 
scene  of  festal  triumph  for  the  sparkling  country  lad. 

*  "  In  1707  it  took,  in  summer  one  clay,  in  winter  nearly  two  days,  to 
travel  from  London  to  Oxford,  forty-six  miles.''  —  Haydn's  Dictionary. 
The  ride  from  Ripon  to  London  could  not  have  been  made  in  less  than 
five  or  six  summer  days.  —  W.  \V. 


6  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

He  could,  it  seemed,  be  entirely  at  his  ease.  He  sang 
his  songs  ;  he  told  his  stories  ;  he  hit  off  his  little  series 
of  eccentric  Yorkshire  characters,  and  he  was  the  bright 
spirit  of  the  hour.  He  charmed  his  new  and  fastidious 
acquaintances  of  the  parlor  as  much  as  he  had  charmed 
his  careless,  accidental  comrades  of  the  tap ;  and  the 
fancy  that  Garrick  took  for  him,  on  that  night,  was 
destined  not  only  to  ripen  into  a  lasting  friendship,  but  to 
mark  out  and  settle  his  pathway  in  life.  He  was  not 
"  to  keep  a  farm  and  carters."  He  returned  no  more 
for  a  long  time  to  Ripon ;  but  with  Garrick's  advice 
and  aid,  he  adopted  the  stage  and  was  at  once  em- 
barked in  professional  occupation. 

There  is  a  romantic  air  about  this  narrative  which, 
possibly,  implies  a  fiction ;  but  such  is  the  story,  as 
transmitted  by  Mr.  Meadows,  and  so  it  remains.  An- 
other and  prosier  account  says  that  Jefferson  was  edu- 
cated for  the  bar,  and  actually  began  the  practice  of 
law;  but  very  soon,  and  by  a  sort -of  accident,  dis- 
carded this  profession,  for  the  sake  of  the  stage.  Ac- 
cording to  this  tale  he  chanced  one  day  to  stroll  into  a 
barn  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ripon,  where  some  wan- 
dering players  had  undertaken  to  enact  Farquhar's  com- 
edy of  "  The  Beaux'  Stratagem,"  and  there  and  then 
volunteered  his  services,  in  place  of  an  actor  suddenly 
disabled  by  illness,  to  perform  Archer.  His  offer  was 
accepted.  He  had  previously  acted  the  part  at  a  pri- 
vate theatrical  club,  and  his  success  in  it  on  this  occa- 
sion was  so  brilliant  that  he  at  once  determined  to 
renounce  the  law  and  adopt  the  theatre.  This  legend 
furthermore  states  that  Garrick,  when  accosted  by  the 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  J 

new  comer,  promptly  bestowed  upon  him  an  engage- 
ment at  Drury  Lane,  together  with  his  personal  friend- 
ship, and  that  Jefferson  subsequently  for  a  term  of 
years  shared  the  honors -of  that  stage  with  its  chieftain. 
The  student  of  theatrical  history,  however,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  comparative  barrenness  of  existing  records 
of  Jefferson's  career,  remembering  what  is  authentically 
recorded  of  Garrick's  temperament  and  habits,  will  pre- 
fer to  accept  the  more  rational  and  pleasing  story  re- 
lated on  the  authority  of  the  veteran  of  Covent  Garden. 
Jefferson,  it  is  certain,  never  at  any  time  in  his  pro- 
fessional career  divided  honors  with  his  great  leader. 
He  is  known  to  have  acted  Horatio,  and  also  King 
Claudius,  to  Garrick's  Hamld ;  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, to  Garrick's  Richard  the  Third ;  Paris,  to  Gar- 
rick's Romeo ;  Col.  Britton,  to  Garrick's  Don  Felix  ; 
and  the  Duke  of  Gloster,  to  Garrick's  John  Shore, 
and  this  showing  indicates  the  high-water  mark  of  his 
prominence  in  Carrick's  company.  All  the  same  he 
was  "  a  well-graced  actor  ;  "  he  gained  and  held  a  good 
rank,  when  rank  was  hard  to  gain ;  and  he  possessed 
Garrick's  regard  much  more  fully  than  probably  he 
would  have  done,  had  he  ever  been,  or  seemed  to  be, 
a  rival  to  that  illustrious  but  not  magnanimous  genius. 
Of  the  length  of  time  during  which  they  were  profes- 
sionally associated,  there  is  no  positive  record.  Jeffer- 
son seems  to  have  been  early  captivated  by  the  idea  of 
theatrical  management  in  the  provincial  towns,  and  he 
may  have  left  Garrick's  company  either  as  a  strolling 
player  or  with  this  other  avocation  in  view.  There  is  an 
anecdote,  treasured  by  his  descendants,  that  when  he 


8  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

sought  that  great  actor  and  warm  personal  friend  to 
say  good-bye,  as  he  was  setting  forth  to  the  rural  scene 
of  new  labors,  Garrick,  who  had  just  ended  a  perform- 
ance of  his  renowned  character  of  Abel  D nigger,  in  Ben 
Jonson's  comedy  of  "  The  Alchemist,"  took  off  his  wig, 
after  exchanging  words  of  farewell,  and  threw  it  to  him 
from  the  dressing-room,  saying,  "  Take  that,  my  friend, 
and  may  it  bring  you  as  much  good  as  it  has  brought 
me."  This  relic  survived  for  a  long  time  ;  was  brought 
to  America  by  Jefferson  the  Second,  passed  into  the 
possession  of  Jefferson  the  Third,  and  ultimately  was 
destroyed,  together  with  many  other  articles  of  stage 
wardrobe,  which  had  been  entrusted  by  the  latter  to 
the  care  of  Joseph  Cowell,*  the  comedian,  in  a  fire 

*  Joseph  Cowell.  —  This  actor  and  writer,  from  whose  reminis- 
cences several  extracts  are  made  in  this  biography,  was  bom  at  Kent, 
England,  August  7th,  1792,  and  passed  his  early  days  at  Torquay,  where 
he  saw  Lord  Nelson,  of  whom  he  can  find  nothing  better  to  say  than  that 
he  was  "  a  mean-looking  little  man,  but  very  kind  and  agreeable  to  chil- 
dren." Cowell  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  stage,  at  Plymouth,  in 
1S12,  as  Bclcour,  in  Cumberland's  comedy  of  "  The  West  Indian."  He 
afterwards  was  on  the  York  circuit,  —  Tate  Wilkinson's  old  ground,  — 
and  eventually  he  became  a  member  of  the  company  at  Drury  Lane. 
In  1821  he  came  to  America,  under  engagement  to  Stephen  Price,  for 
the  New  York  Park  Theatre,  and  he  remained  in  this  country  till  1844, 
when  he  returned  to  England.  He  was  here  again  in  1S50,  and  appeared 
at  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House;  and  on  April  23d,  1856,  at  the  old 
Broadway  Theatre,  he  took  a  farewell  benefit  and  left  the  stage.  His 
autobiography,  entitled  "  Thirty  Years  among  the  Players,"  was  published 
by  the  Harpers,  in  1S44.  He  finally  went  back  to  England  with  his 
grand-daughter,  Kate  Bateman,  and  died  in  London,  November  14th, 
1S63,  in  his  seventy-second  year.  He  was  famous  as  Crack,  in  "  The 
Turnpike  Gate,"  —  a  musical  piece,  by  T.  Knight,  first  acted  at  Covent 
Garden,  in  1799,  —  and  his  portrait,  in  that  character,  painted  by 
Neagle,  is  one  of  the  illustrations  of  Wemyss's  "  Acting  American 
Theatre."  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  9 

that  consumed  the  St.  Charles  Theatre,  New  Orleans, 
in  1842. 

There  is  still  another  version  of  Thomas  Jefferson's 
choice  of  a  theatrical  career,  and  the  details  of  this  are 
sanctioned  by  several  authorities.  This  account  states 
that  when  a  youth  he  was,  for  a  short  time,  employed  in 
an  attorney's  office,  somewhere  in  Yorkshire,  presuma- 
bly in  Ripon,  and  that  he  went  to  London  as  an  adven- 
turous fugitive.  The  attorney  whom  he  served  had 
ordered  him  to  prepare  for  a  journey  up  to  the  capital, 
and  this  to  the  gay  lad  was,  of  course,  a  joyful  prospect ; 
but,  to  his  great  disappointment  and  mortification,  on 
the  night  before  the  appointed  day  for  his  departure,  he 
was  apprised  that  the  plan  had  been  changed,  and  that 
the  attorney  would  make  the  trip  himself.  Young  Jef- 
ferson, unsubmissive,  and  not  to  be  thus  defeated  of  his 
cherished  will,  thereupon  determined  to  take  "  French 
leave  "  of  his  friends,  and  go  to  London  on  his  own 
account.  A  fortunate  chance  seemed  to  favor  this  ex- 
pedition. A  fine  charger  had  been  bought,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Ripon,  for  a  military  magnate  named  General 
Fawkes,  and  Jefferson,  aware  of  his  opportunity,  offered 
to  ride  him  to  London,  and  obtained  permission  to  do 
so.  Thus  provided,  it  is  said,  he  rode  away  from  home, 
and  bent  his  course  toward  the  great  city,  where  he  ar- 
rived in  January,  1 746  or  '47.  On  April  7th  in  the  latter 
year  he  was  a  lodger  at  the  Tilt-yard  Coffee  House,  and 
had  the  extraordinary  experience  of  being  blown  up  with 
gunpowder,  a  quantity  of  which  had  been  served  out 
to  the  soldiers  who  were  to  guard  the  unfortunate  old 
Lord  Lovat  on  his  way  to  execution.     This  was  Simon 


IO  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Fraser,  born  in  1667,  one  of  the  three  Scottish  lords, 
adherents  of  Charles  Edward  the  Pietender,  who  were 
beheaded  on  Tower  Hill  in  1 747.  The  others  were  Kil- 
marnock and  Balmerino  ;  and  the  visitor  to  the  Tower 
of  London  still  sees  the  axe  and  block  that  were  used  in 
this  execution.  Many  lives  were  lost  in  the  Tilt-yard 
accident ;  but  that  of  Jefferson  was  saved,  through  the 
chance  intervention  of  a  falling  beam,  which  prevented 
him  from  being  crushed.  A  short  time  after  this  occur- 
rence he  was  present  in  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  at  a  per- 
formance of  Sir  Robert  Howard's  comedy  of  "  The 
Committee  "  (1665),  in  which  the  fascinating  Peg  Wof- 
fington  acted  Ruth  ;  and  this  siren  so  captivated  his 
fancy  that  he  resolved  to  drop  all  thoughts  of  any  other 
pursuit  than  the  stage. 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  with  absolute  precision  as  to 
the  various  and  devious  steps  of  Jefferson's  professional 
career.  He  was  a  theatrical  manager  at  Richmond, 
Exeter,  Lewes,  and  Plymouth ;  he  frequently  went  on 
strolling  expeditions,  and  he  acted  at  Drury  Lane,  inter- 
mittently, from  about  1750  to  1776.  Soon  after  his 
first  meeting  with  Garrick,  he  appeared  at  the  Hay- 
market,  in  London,  as  Horatio,  in  "  The  Fair  Penitent." 
The  exact  date  of  that  meeting  is  unknown.  Garrick 
made  his  great  preliminary  hit  *  in  London,  at  Good- 

*  David  Garrick,  1716-1 779.  —  In  John  Bernard's  "Retrospec- 
tions of  the  Stage,"  Vol.  II.,  chapter  6,  mention  is  made  of  one  of  the 
audience  that  witnessed  the  first  appearance  of  Garrick  in  London.  This 
was  Philip  Lewis,  father  of  the  famous  English  comedian,  William  T. 
Lewis.  "  He  was  the  only  man  of  my  acquaintance,"  says  Bernard, 
"  who  remembered  the  debut  of  Garrick  ;  and  it  was  when  sitting  at  my 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  I  I 

man's  Fields  Theatre,  when  he  was  twenty-five  years  old, 
on  Oct.  19th,  1 74 1,  and  he  afterwards  went  over  to 
Dublin ;  and  then  he  was  engaged  by  Fleetwood,  for 
Drury  Lane,  where  he  remained  till  1745.  That  year  — 
the  year  of  the  Jacobite  insurrection  —  he  was  again  in 
Ireland,  acting  with  Thomas  Sheridan,  the  father  of  the 
brilliant  and  famous  Richard  Brinsley,  in  the  theatre  in 
Smock  Alley.  But  in  1 746  he  was  acting,  under  the 
management  of  Rich,  at  Covent  Garden,  and  it  was  not 
till  the  winter  of  1747  that  he  became  the  manager  of 
Drury  Lane.  Jefferson's  meeting  with  him,  probably, 
occurred  early  in  1 746.  The  Stuart  Rebellion,  which 
it  is  assumed  had  sent  this  young  fellow  up  to  London, 
was  still  going  on,  and  did  not  perish  till  April  16th 
that  year,  when  it  met  its  death-blow  at  Culloden.  It 
is  likely  that,  through  Garrick's  influence,  Jefferson  was 
early  attached  to  the  London  stage  ;  or,  he  may  at  first 
have  gone  on  a  country  circuit,  and  afterwards  joined 
the  Drury  Lane  company  when  Garrick  had  become 
its  manager,  quitting  that  theatre  at  a  later  time  to 
manage  on  his  own  account  in  the  provinces.  He 
must  soon  have  learned,  as  others  did,  that  it  was  well- 
nigh  impossible,  in  that  epoch  at  the  British  capital, 
for  any  actor  to  win  a  desirable  success  in  face  of  the 

table,  with  Charles  Bannister  and  Merry,  he  uttered  an  impromptu  I 
have  since  heard  attributed  to  others  :  — 

'  I  saw  him  rising  in  the  east,  , 

In  all  his  energetic  glows  ; 
I  saw  him  sinking  in  the  west 

In  greater  splendor  than  he  rose.'  " 

This  is  queer,  both  as  poetry  and  grammar ;  but  it  is  a  curiosity.  — 
W.  W. 


12  THE  JEFFERSOXS. 

overwhelming  ascendancy  which  Garrick  then  main- 
tained. 

A  period  of  about  twelve  years  of  itinerant  acting  and 
perhaps  of  desultory  theatrical  management  is  accord- 
ingly to  be  imagined.  In  1758  he  went  to  Ireland,  and 
in  1 760  he  was  a  member  of  the  Crow  St.  Theatre, 
acting  with  a  company  which  included  Barry,  Mossop, 
Woodward,  Macklin,  Foote,  Sowden,  Walker,  Vernon, 
Dexter,  Heaphy,  Mrs.  Fitzhenry,  Mrs.  Kennedy,  and 
Mrs.  Dancer.  In  that  year,  or  a  little  later,  he  left 
Dublin,  in  order  to  assume  the  management  of  the  the- 
atre at  Plymouth,  with  which  his  name  was  ever  after- 
wards associated.  In  1764,  still  holding  his  Plymouth 
house,  he  became  associated  with  Mrs.  Pitt,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  theatre  at  Exeter,  and  in  1765,  conjointly 
with  Josiah  Foote,  a  tradesman  of  that  town,  he  pur- 
chased Mrs.  Pitt's  interest  in  the  property  and  renewed 
the  lease;  but  in  1767  he  sold  his  share  of  the  estate 
to  his  partner,  Foote,  and  after  that  time  he  seems  to 
have  concentrated  his  attention  upon  the  care  of  the 
Plymouth  theatre.  He  managed,  indeed,  at  one  or  two 
other  places,  and  he  appeared  at  Drury  Lane,  his  name 
being  occasionally  found  in  the  casts  of  plays  that  were 
presented  there  all  along  the  period  from  1751  to  1776. 
But  he  never  appeared  in  that  theatre  after  his  friend 
Garrick  left  it  [June  10,  1  776]  ;  and  after  Garrick's  death 
[January  20,  1779],  when  that  resplendent  career  of 
only  thirty-five  years  was  ended,  he  seems  never  to  have 
cared  again  to  associate  himself  with  London  theatrical 
life.  Besides,  he  was  now  about  fifty  years  of  age,  with 
his  children  growing  up  around  him,  and  his  circum- 


JEFFERSON   THE   FIRST.  13 

stances  had  assumed  a  settled  character,  such  as  natu- 
rally restricted  him  to  the  safer  fields  of  unadventurous 
industry. 

The  rank  of  Thomas  Jefferson  among  the  actors  of 
his  time  was,  undoubtedly,  in  the  first  grade,  —  setting 
aside  the  names  of  Garrick,  Barry,  and  Mossop  as  ex- 
ceptional, and  far  above  their  comrades.  The  dramatic 
period  was  a  storied  one,  and  only  a  man  of  uncom- 
monly brilliant  talent  could  have  held  a  conspicuous 
position  in  the  shining  group  of  players  which  then 
adorned  the  British  stage.*  Theatrical  powers  and  en- 
terprises in  those  days  were  much  more  closely  concen- 
trated than  they  have  ever  been  since  then,  except,  per- 
haps, in  the  best  period  of  the  Chestnut  and  the  Park,  in 
.America,  and  were  subjected  to  a  keener,  more  thought- 
ful, and  more  critically  exacting  attention,  on  the  part 
of  the  public,  than  they  receive,  or,  generally,  are  calcu- 
lated to  inspire,  at  present  (1881).  The  stock  com- 
panies were  few,  and  they  were  composed  of  performers 
who,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  vastly  extended  theatri- 

*  "Henderson  (i 747-1 785)  was  the  only  legitimate  successor  to 
Garrick's  throne,  —  the  only  attendant  genius  that  could  wear  his  man- 
tle. Though  it  is  difficult  to  compare  the  others,  owing  to  the  peculi- 
arities of  their  paths,  Powell  was  best  in  the  Romans  and  fathers; 
Holland  in  the  ardent  spirits  of  lovers  and  champions,  the  Hotspurs 
and  Chamonts  :  and  1 1  fferson  in  the  kings  and  tyrants.  1  >f  the  four, 
Powell  and  Reddish  were  the  cleverest.  But  Reddish  was  differently 
situated;  he  lived  in  Garrick's  time,  and  was  one  of  the  many  stars,  in 
that  Augustan  era  of  acting,  whos  orbed  in  the 

luminary's.  Powell,  Holland,  and  [efferson  wen  all  in  the  same  pre- 
dicament: Mos  op,  Barry,  and  Sheridan  w  re  thi  only  ones  who  rose 
into  notice  from  a  collision  with  the  Roscius  ;  but  even  their  memories 
are  fading."  —  John  Bernard's  "Retrospections  of  the  Stage,"  Vol  I., 
page  15. 


I4  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

cal  area,  and  the  vastly  increased  demand  and  remu- 
neration for  theatrical  entertainments,  would  now  be 
"  stars."  Jefferson's  repute,  if  not  surpassingly  brilliant, 
like  that  of  Garrick,  was,  nevertheless,  the  guerdon  of  a 
tried,  proved,  and  sterling  merit.  He  ranked  with  Barry 
in  comedy,  —  excelling  Mossop,  Sheridan,  and  Red- 
dish, —  but  he  was  not  half  so  good  as  Barry  in  tragedy. 
Yet  his  tragedy  was  accounted  equal  with  that  of  Mack- 
lin,  the  first  great  Shy  lock  of  the  British  stage  ;  and  he 
must  have  been  strong,  indeed,  if  he  could  hold  his 
rank  against  that  competitor.  The  "Thespian  Dic- 
tionary "  ( 1 805  ),  recording,  no  doubt,  the  testimony  of 
an  eye-witness,  says  that  he  "  possessed  a  pleasing  coun- 
tenance, strong  expression  and  compass  of  voice,  and 
was  excellent  in  declamatory  parts."  His  abilities,  ob- 
viously, were  considerable,  and  were  well  trained  ;  and 
they  must  have  been  versatile,  too,  for  the  chronicles 
show  that  he  was  sometimes  accepted  as  a  substitute 
for  Garrick ;  that  he  was  even  thought  to  resemble  him 
in  appearance  ;  and  that  he  was  accounted  a  compe- 
tent actor  throughout  a  remarkably  wide  range  of  parts. 
In  the  course  of  the  twenty-five  years,  during  which  he 
acted  at  odd  intervals  in  Drury  Lane,  he  was  seen  in  fifty- 
nine  characters,  and  the  list  of  his  performances  re- 
mains incomplete.  These  parts,  and  the  plays  in 
which  they  occur,  are  here  named,  with  occasional 
explanatory  comment :  — 

PARTS    ACTED    BY   JEFFERSON    THE    FIRST. 

Dunelm,  in  "  Athelstan."     Tragedy.     By  Dr.  John  Browne, 
once  Bishop  of  Carlisle.     Drury  Lane,  1756. 

Belford,  and  also  Count  Baldwin,  in  "  The    Fatal  Marriage, 


JEFFERSON   THE  FIRST.  15 

or  the  Innocent  Adultery."  Tragedy.  By  Thomas  Southerne. 
1694.  Altered  by  Garrick,  and  called  "  Isabella,  or  the  Fatal 
Marriage."     Drury  Lane. 

Lyon,  in  "  The  Reprisal,  or  The  Tars  of  Old  England."  Farce. 
By  Tobias  Smollett,  the  great  novelist.  Drury  Lane,  1757. 
Garrick  had  rejected  a  poor  play  by  this  author,  entitled  "The 
Regicide,"  and  Smollett  had  subsequently  satirized  him,  as 
Brayer,  in  Mr.  Melopyn's  story,  in  "  Roderick  Random."  Gar- 
rick's  acceptance  of  this  poor  farce  of  "  The  Tars  "  may,  there- 
fore, be  viewed  as  an  act  either  of  magnanimity  or  prudence, 
lie  was  exceedingly  sensitive  to  those  expressions  of  opinion  — 
almost  always  idle,  superficial,  ignorant,  and  worthless —  which 
mankind  denominates  criticism. 

Colonel  Lambert,  in  "  The  Hypocrite."  This  piece  is  an  altera- 
tion of  Cibber's  play  of  "  The  Nonjuror  "  (171S),  which,  in  turn, 
was  based  on  Molierc's  "  Tartuffe,"  and  was  made  by  Isaac 
Bickerstaffe,  1768.  The  chief  part  in  "The  Nonjuror  "  is  Dr. 
Wolf,  "an  English  Popish  priest"  who  pretends  to  be  an 
English  churchman.  In  "  The  Hypocrite"  Mawworm  is  the 
principal  part,  and  this  was  acted,  with  great  ability,  by  Tom 
Weston.      Drury  Lane. 

Cubla,  in  "  Zingis."  Tragedy.  By  Alexander  Dow.  Drury 
Lane,  1769. 

Kathel,  in  "The  Fatal  Discovery."  Drury  Lane,  1769.  A 
weak  tragedy  by  the  Rev.  John  Home,  author  of  "Douglas" 
—  so  amusiii  cribed  by  Thackeray,  in  the  nth  chapter, 

Book  III.  of  "The  Virginians."  It  is  recorded  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Home  was  so  unpopular,  on  political  grounds,  at  the  time 
of  the  production  of  this  tragedy,  that,  when  the  fact  of  its 
authorship  became  known,  the  malcontents  threatened  to  burn 
the  theatre,  if  the  piece  was  not  withdrawn  ;  and  Garrick,  ac- 
cordingly, withdrew  it,  after  the  twelfth  night. 

Palamede,  in  "The  Frenchified  1  ad]  Never  In  Paris."  Com- 
edy. By  Henry  Dell.  Covent  Garden,  1757.  This  piece  is 
based  on  plays  by  Dryden  ami  Cibber. 

Megistu^  in  "  Zenobia."  Tragedy.  By  Arthur  Murphy. 
Drury  Lane,  1768.     Adapted  from  the  French  of  Crebillon. 


\ 

1 6  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

Careless,  in  "The  Committee,  or  the  Faithful  Irishman." 
Comedy.     By  Sir  Robert  Howard.     1665. 

Oswald,  in  "  King  Arthur." 

Jarvis,  in  "  The  Gamester."  Comedy.  By  Susanna  Centli- 
vre.  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  1705;  Drury  Lane,  1758.  There 
is  an  earlier  play,  with  this  title,  by  James  Shirley  (1637),  which 
was  altered  by  Garrick,  and  brought  out  at  Drury  Lane,  in 
1758;  and  there  is  a  later  one,  by  Edward  Moore  (1753),  in 
which  Mrs.  Siddons  acted  Mrs.  Beverley,  and  John  Palmer  was 
great  as  Stukeley.  Moore  is  buried  in  Lambeth  churchyard, 
near  the  old  Palace. 

Trueman,  in  "The  Twin  Rivals."  Comedy.  By  George 
Farquhar.     Drury  Lane,  1703. 

Johnson,  in  "  The  Rehearsal."  This  capital  comedy,  by 
George  Villiers,  second  Duke  of  Buckingham  (1627,  1688),  was 
produced  at  the  Theatre  Royal,  in  1672,  and  in  after  years  it 
afforded  to  Garrick,  in  the  character  of  Bares,  originally  Bilboa, 
an  opportunity,  which  he  brilliantly  improved,  for  satirical  imi- 
tation of  the  noted  actors  of  the  time  :  and  "  The  Rehearsal," 
as  is  well  known,  suggested  to  Sheridan  the  admirably  humor- 
ous farce  of  "The  Critic." 

Cleomenes,  in  "  Florizel  and  Perdita."  Pastoral  Drama,  in 
three  acts,  altered  from  Shakespeare's  lovely  comedy  of  "  A 
Winter's  Tale,"  by  Garrick,  and  produced  at  Drury  Lane,  in 
1756. 

Friar  John,  in  Shakespeare's  fragedy  of  "  Romeo  and  Juliet." 
This  part  is  nowa-days   omitted. 

The  Music  Master,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  The  Taming 
of  the  Shrew." 

Sir  Tan  Tivy,  in  "  The  Male  Coquette,  or  Seventeen  Hun- 
dred Fifty-seven."     Farce.     By  Garrick.     Drury  Lane,  1757. 

The  Emperor  of  Germany,  in  "  The  Heroine  of  the  Cave." 
Tragedy.  Begun  by  Henry  Jones,  and  finished  by  Paul  Hiffer- 
nan.     Acted,  for  the  benefit  of  Reddish,  March  19,  1774. 

Mirabel,m  "The  Way  of  the  World."  Comedy.  By  William 
Congreve.  Drury  Lane,  1700.  Jefferson  acted  this  part  for 
the   benefit   of   Mrs.  Abington,  one  of  whose   most    intimate 


JEFFERSON,    THE   FIRST.  \J 

friends  he  is  stated  to  have  been  (Victor's  "  Secret  History  of 
the  Green  Room"). 

Frances  Barton  Abington,  the  brilliant  actress,  thus  asso- 
ciated with  the  memory  of  Jefferson  the  First,  remained,  to 
the  end  of  her  days,  one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  women. 
She  has  been  amply  commemorated  in  biography.  She  was 
born  in  London,  in  1737,  and  died  there,  at  her  house  in  Pall 
Mall,  in  March,  1815.  A  life-like  glimpse  of  her  is  given  by 
John  Taylor,  in  his  charming"  Records  of  ray  Life,"  p.  230; 
and  another  by  Henry  Crabb  Robinson,  in  his  "  Reminiscences," 
p.  214.  Her  maiden  name  was  Frances  Barton.  She  married 
a  musician  named  Abington,  but  subsequently  left  him.  Her  first 
appearance  was  made  at  the  London  Haymarket  Theatre,  in 
1755,  as  Miranda,  in  "The  Busybody,"  and  her  last  public 
appearance  occurred  on  April  12.  1799.  She  was  accounted 
a  great  Beatrice,  in  "  Much  Ado,"  and  she  was  the  original 
Lady  Teazle,  in  "  The  School  For  Scandal," — a  part  which  she 
made  a  fine  lady  throughout,  with  no  trace  of  rustic  origin. 
Garrick  referred  to  her  as  "  that  most  worthless  creature, 
Abington  :  she  is  below  the  thoughts  of  any  honest  man.  She 
is  as  silly  as  she  is  false  and  treacherous."  Mrs.  Abington  is 
buried  in  St.  James's,   Piccadilly. 

H.  C.  Robinson's  account  of  her  is  comparatively  fresh 
to  theatrical  readers,  and  therefore  is  quoted  here:  —  "June 
16,  1811.  —  Dined  at  Sergeant  Rough's,  and  met  the  once 
celebrated  Mrs.  Abington.  From  her  present  appearance  one 
can  hardly  suppose  she  could  ever  have  been  otherwise  than 
plain.       She    hei  1  [hed    at    her  snub-nose  ;    but    she    is 

erect,  has  a  large,  blue,  expressive  eye,  and  an  agreeable 
voice.  She  spoke  of  her  retirement  from  the  stage  as  occa- 
sioned by  the  vexations  of  a  theatrical  life.  She  said  she  should 
have  gone  mad,  if  she  had  not  quitted  her  profession.  She  has 
lost  all  her  professional  feelings,  and  when  she  goes  to  the 
theatre  can  laugh  and  cry  like  a  child  ;  but  tire  trouble  is  too 
great,  and  she  does  not  often  g 

"  It  is  so  much  a  thing  of  course  that  a  retired  actor  should 
be  a  laudator  temporis  acti,  that  I  felt  unwilling  to  draw  from 


1 8  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

her  any  opinion  of  her  successors.  Mrs.  Siddons,  however, 
she  praised,  though  not  with  the  warmth  of  a  genuine  admirer. 
She  said  :  "  Early  in  life  Mrs.  Siddons  was  anxious  to  succeed  in 
comedy,  and  played  Rosalind  before  I  retired."  In  speaking 
of  the  modern  declamation  and  the  too  elaborate  emphasis 
given  to  insignificant  words,  she  said,  "  That  was  brought  in  by 
them "  (the  Kembles).  She  spoke  with  admiration  of  the 
Covent  Garden  horses,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  her  praise  was 
meant  to  have  the  effect  of  satire. 

"  Of  all  the  present  actors  Murray  most  resembles  Garrick. 
She  spoke  of  Barry  with  great  warmth.  He  was  a  nightingale. 
Such  a  voice  was  never  heard.  He  confined  himself  to  char- 
acters of  great  tenderness  and  sweetness,  such  as  Romeo.  She 
admitted  the  infinite  superiority  of  Garrick,  in  genius.  His 
excellence  lay  in  the  bursts  and  quick  transitions  of  passion, 
and  in  the  variety  and  universality  of  his  genius.  Mrs.  Abing- 
ton  would  not  have  led  me  to  suppose  she  had  been  on  the  stage, 
by  either  her  manner  or  the  substance  of  her  conversation. 
She  speaks  with  the  ease  of  a  person  used  to  good  society, 
rather  than  with  the  assurance  of  one  whose  business  it  was  to 
imitate  that  ease." 

Col.  Britton,  in  "  The  Wonder."  Comedy.  By  Susanna 
Centlivre.     Drury  Lane,  1713-14. 

Mercury,  in  "  Amphytrion."  This  piece  is  from  the  Latin, 
of  Titus  Maccius  Plautus.  It  was  adapted  by  Moliere,  and 
afterwards  by  Dryden.  An  alteration  of  Dryden's  piece,  made 
by  Dr.  Hawkesworth,  at  Garrick's  request,  was  produced  at 
Drury  Lane,  in  1756. 

Blandford,  in  "The  Royal  Slave."  Tragi-comedy.  By  William 
Cartwright,  1639.  First  acted  in  1636,  at  Oxford,  before 
Charles  I. 

Lord  Morelove,  in  "  The  Careless  Husband."  Theatre  Royal, 
1705.  This  is  Colley  Cibber's  most  polished  comedy,  and  by 
some  judges  is  considered  his  best.  Lady  Betty  Modish  occurs 
in  it,  —  in  which  part  Mrs.  Oldfield  "  excellently  acted  an  agree- 
ably gay  woman  of  quality,  a  little  too  conscious  of  her  natural 
attractions."     Lord  Morelove  is  her  devoted  lover. 


yEFFERSOX   THE  FIRST.  19 

Careless,  in  "  The  Double  Gallant,  or  The  Sick  Lady's  Cure." 
Comedy.     By  Colley  Cibber.     Haymarket,  1707. 

Velasco,  in  "Alonzo,"  another  bad  tragedy  by  the  Rev.  John 
Home.     Drury  Lane,  1773. 

Colonel  Rivers,  in  "  False  Delicacy,"  a  once  famous  comedy, 
by  Hugh  Kelly.  Drury  Lane,  176S.  Jefferson  acted  this  for 
his  own  benefit,  in  1773. 

Don  Frederick,  and  also  Don  John,  in  "The  Chances."  — 
Comedy.  By  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  1647.  Altered  by  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  16S2.  Altered  by  Garrick  (1773),  who 
acted  Don  John.     Drury  Lane. 

The  Earl  of  Devon,  in  "Alfred."  Tragedy.  By  David 
Mallet:  altered  by  Garrick.     Drury  Lane,  1773. 

Gloster,  in  "Jane  Shore."  Tragedy.  By  Nicholas  Rowe. 
Drury  Lane,  1713.  In  1772  Mrs.  Canning, — mother  of  the 
great  statesman,  George  Canning  (1770-1827),  then  a  child  of 
fwo  years,  —  made  her  first  appearance  on  the  stage,  acting 
Jane  Shore,  in  this  piece.  Garrick  acted  Shore.  An  allusion 
to  this  incident  occurs  in  Bernard's  "Retrospections"  (Vol.  I. 
p.  13),  as  follows:  "  At  Drury  Lane  I  remember  seeing  'Jane 
Shore,'  on  the  evening  that  Mrs.  Canning,  the  widow  of  an 
eminent  counsellor,  made  her  debut,  as  the  heroine.  She  was 
patronized  by  numerous  persons  of  distinction,  and  the  house 
was  very  favorable  towards  her.  But,  independently  of  the 
personal  interest  which  attended  her  attempt,  Mrs.  Canning 
put  forth  claims  upon  the  approbation  of  the  critical.  One 
thing,  however,  must  be  admitted  ;  she  was  wonderfully  well 
supported.  Garrick  was  the  Hastings,  and  Reddish  (her  future 
husband),  the  Dumont.  I  little  thought  as  I  sat  in  the  pit 
that  night,  an  ardent  boy  of  sixteen,  that  I  then  beheld  the 
lady  who  was  destined,  at  some  fifteen  years'  distance,  to  be- 
come the  leading  feature  in  a  company  of  my  own;  nor  that 
in  the  Gloster  of  the  night,  —  admirably  acted  by  JEFFERSON, — 
I  beheld  my  partner  in  that  management.     (Plymouth)." 

Captain  Worthy,  in  "The  Fair  Quaker,  or  The  Humours  of 
the  Navy."  Comedy,  by  ('lurks  Shadwell,  1710:  altered  by 
Captain  Edward  Thompson.      Drury  Lane,  1773. 


20  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

Sunderland,  in  "  the  Note  of  Hand,  or  A  Trip  to  Newmarket." 
Farce.     By  Richard  Cumberland.     Drury  Lane,  1774. 

Goodwin,  in  "  The  Brothers."  Tragedy.  By  Dr.  Edward 
Young,  author  of  "  Night  Thoughts."     Drury  Lane,  1753. 

Jacques,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  As  You  Like  It." 

Clytus,  in  "  Alexander  the  Great,"  altered  from  Nathaniel 
Lee's  tragedy  of  "  The  Rival  Queens,  or  The  Death  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great."  Theatre  Royal,  1677.  Produced  at  both 
Covent  Garden  and  Drury  Lane,  1770.  Roxana  and  Statira 
are  in  this  play.  Revived  at  Drury  Lane,  1795.  The  author,  a 
brilliant  genius,  died,  at  thirty-five,  in  1691  or  1692,  shortly  after 
being  released  from  Bedlam.     He  was  a  lunatic. 

Sir  Epicure  Mammon,  in  "  The  Alchemist."  This  piece  was 
an  alteration  of  Ben  Jonson's  comedy.  Garrick  acted  Abel 
Drugger,  and  was  famously  good  in  the  character.  A  remark- 
ably fine  painting  of  Garrick  as  Abel  Drugger  is  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Jefferson  the  Fourth,  at  Hohokus,  New  Jersey.  Garrick's 
performance  of  Abel  Drugger  was  so  good  that  an  infatuated 
young  lady,  who  had  begun  matrimonial  negotiations  with  him, 
became  disgusted,  and  abandoned  her  project ;  while  a  gentle- 
man from  Lichfield,  who  had  brought  from  Garrick's  brother 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  great  actor,  would  not  deliver  it, 
after  seeing  this  impersonation  — so  great  was  his  contempt  for 
the  person  he  then  saw. 

Garrick's  acting  of  this  part  is  described  as  follows  :  "  Abel 
Drugger's  first  appearance  would  disconcert  the  muscular 
economy  of  the  wisest.  His  attitude,  his  dread  of  offending  the 
doctor,  his  saying  nothing,  his  gradual  stealing  in  further  and 
further,  his  impatience  to  be  introduced,  his  joy  to  his  friend 
Face,  are  inevitable  by  none.  When  he  first  opens  his  mouth 
the  features  of  his  face  seem,  as  it  were,  to  drop  upon  his 
tongue;  it  is  all  caution  —  it  is  timorous,  stammering,  and  inex- 
pressible. When  he  stands  under  the  conjuror,  to  have  his 
features  examined,  his  teeth,  his  beard,  his  little  finger,  his 
awkward  simplicity,  and  his  concern,  mixed  with  hope,  and 
fear,  and  joy,  and  avarice,  and  good  nature,  are  beyond  paint- 
ing."—  Lichtenberg,  translated  by  Tom  Taylor. 


7EFFERS0N   THE   FIRST.  21 

Leonato,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "Much  Ado  About 
Nothing." 

Ilcartpee,  in  "  The  Provoked  Wife."  Comedy.  By  Sir 
John  Vanbrugh.  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  1697.  Never  acted 
now,  and  seldom  read.  Quin  was  distinguished  in  it,  as  Sir 
John  Brute. 

Littlestock,  in  "The  Gamesters,"  a  comedy  by  Garrick,  1758, 
altered  from  "  The  Gamester,"  by  James  Shirley,  1637. 

Lord  Trinket,  in  "The  Jealous  Wife,"  that  well  known  and 
still  admired  comedy,  by  George  Colman.    Drury  Lane,  1761. 

Dolabella,  in  "  All  For  Love,  or  The  World  Well  Lost,"  —  the 
tragedy  in  which  Dryden  gave  his  imitation  of  Shakespeare's 
"Antony  and  Cleopatra,"  and  which  he  said  was  the  only  one 
of  his  plays  that  he  had  written  for  himself.  Theatre  Royal, 
167S.  Dr.  Johnson  remarks  of  this  play  that  the  author,  "  by 
admitting  the  romantic  omnipotence  of  love,  has  recommended 
as  laudable  and  worthy  of  imitation  that^conduct  which  through 
all  ages  the  good  have  censured  as  vicious,  and  the  bad  despised 
as  foolish." 

Lovcmore,  in  "  The  Way  to  Keep  Him,"  a  three-act  comedy 
by  Arthur  Murphy  Drury  Lane,  1760.  Jefferson  acted  this 
for  his  own  benefit,  in  1771. 

The  Duke  Orsino,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  Twelfth 
Night." 

King  Claudius,  in  "Hamlet"  —  the  Melancholy  Dane  being 
acted  by  Garrick. 

Aubrey,  in  "  The  Fashionable  Lover,"  a  comedy  by  Richard 
Cumberland.     Drury  Lane.     1772. 

Tachimo,  and  also  C/oteu,  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "Cym- 
beline,"  altered  by  Garrick.     1761. 

Mathusius,  in  "  Tamanthes." 

Horatio,  in  "The  Fair  Penitent."  Tragedy.  By  Nicholas 
Rowe.     Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  1703. 

Balance m  "  The  Recruiting  Officer  "  —  one  of  the  finest  com- 

sofFarquhar.  Drury  Lane,  1705.  The  scene  is  Shrewsbury, 

one  of  the  most  interesting  old  towns  in  England.      Farquhar 

himself  was  once  a  recruiting  officer  there,  and  he  is  thought  to 


22  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

have  drawn  his  own  character,  in  that  of  Captain  Plume.  His 
Justice  Balance  was  designed  as  a  compliment  to  a  worthy 
gentleman,  resident  in  that  neighborhood,  —  Mr.  Berkely,  then 
recorder  of  Shrewsbury.  Jefferson  acted  Balance,  on  occa- 
sions of  his  own  benefit,  in  1775  and  1776. 

Tullius  Hostilius,  in  "  The  Roman  Father."  Drury  Lane, 
1750.  This  is  a  tragedy  by  William  Whitehead,  who  succeeded 
Gibber,  as  Poet-Laureate,  in  1757.  It  is  based  on  the  Roman 
story  of  the  Horatii  and  the  Curiatii,  treated  in  "Les  Horaces," 
by  Corneille,  and  made  immortal  by  Rachel. 

Vainlove,  in  "The  Old  Bachelor."  Comedy.  By  William 
Congreve  (his  first  piece).     Theatre  Royal,  1693. 

Fairfield,  in  "  The  Man  of  the  Mill."  1765.  This  was  a 
burlesque  tragical  opera,  written  by  "  Signor  Squallini,"  in 
travesty  of  "  The  Maid  of  the  Mill,"  by  Isaac  Bickerstaffe, — 
a  comic  opera,  on  the  subject  of  Samuel  Richardson's  novel 
of  <!  Pamela."     Covent  Garden,  1765. 

Carlos,  in  "  The  Revenge,"  a  tragedy,  by  Dr.  Edward  Young, 
author  of  "  Night  Thoughts."     Drury  Lane,  1721. 

Gratiano,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  The  Merchant  of 
Venice." 

Siffredi,'m  "  Tancred  and  Sigismunda."  Tragedy.  By  James 
Thomson,  author  of  "The  Seasons."  The  plot  of  this  piece  is 
found  in  "  Gil  Bias."     Drury  Lane,  1745. 

Myrtle,  in  "The  Corsican  Lovers." 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham,  in  Cibber's  alteration  of  Shake- 
speare's tragedy  of  "  Richard  the  Third."     Drury  Lane,  1700. 

This  array  represents,  of  course,  but  a  small  part  of 
his  professional  labor  and  achievement.  On  the  pro- 
vincial stage,  and  when  he  had  become  a  manager,  he 
acted  everything,  from  Hamlet  to  the  Bleeding  Soldier, 
and  thus  emphatically  was  one  who  ran 

"  Through  each  mood  of  the  lyre  and  was  master  of  all." 

An  indication  of  the  professional  rank  of  Jefferson 
the  First  — and  also  of  that  of  his  wife,  who  is  elsewhere 


JEFFERSON  THE   FIRST. 


23 


described  —  occurs  in  a  Scale  of  the  Merits  of  the  Per- 
formers on  the  Dublin  Stage,  about  the  year  1760-63. 
This  document  was  printed  in  a  letter  signed  "  Theatri- 
cus,"  published  in  the  "  London  Chronicle,"  Vol.  XV., 
and  quoted  in  Malcolm's  "Anecdotes  of  the  Manners 
and  Customs  of  London,  during  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury," Vol.  II.  p.  247. 


MEN. 

Tragedy. 

Comedy. 

WOMEN. 

Tragedy.     Comedy 

Mr.  Barry     .     . 

20     . 

10 

Mrs.  Dancer.     . 

■      14     • 

16 

"     Mossop.     . 

'5     • 

.       6 

"      Fitz  Henry 

•      14      • 

6 

"     Sheridan     . 

IS     • 

.       6 

"     Abington  . 

0 

18 

"     MacUlin      . 

8     . 

•      15 

"      Kami 

.     10     . 

12 

"    Sowdon . 

»3     • 

.     12 

"      Kennedy  . 

.       8     . 

10 

"    Dexter   .     . 

10     . 

12 

"      Kelt"      .     . 

.       8     . 

10 

"    T.  Barry     . 

10     . 

.      8 

"      Barry    ■     . 

.       8     . 

10 

"    Kyd.-r     .     . 

6     . 

12 

"     Jefferson 

.      6     . 

8 

"    Stamper.     . 

0     . 

12 

"      Ambrose     . 

.     0     . 

3 

"    Sparks  . 

0     . 

12 

"      Malum   .     . 

.     0     . 

6 

"    Jefferson 

8    . 

.       IO 

"      Roach     .     . 

.     0     . 

6 

"     Heaphv.     . 

6     . 

.          8 

"     Parsons .     . 

.     0     . 

6 

"      Reddish       . 

6     . 

.      8 

"    Walker  .     . 

0     . 

.      8 

^ 

"    Glover    .     . 

4     • 

.       8 

"    Mahon  .     . 

4     • 

.      6 

1 

A  reprint  of  one  of  the  Drury  Lane  play-bills  of 
Jefferson's  time  will  not  be  inappropriate  here.  It  is 
given  from  an  original,  and  is  a  reduced  fac-simile. 
Almost  every  name  in  it  was  famous.  The  Mrs.  Pritch- 
ard  was  Dr.  Johnson's  "  inspired  idiot,"  the  greatest 
Lady  Macbeth  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  Mrs. 
Davies  was  the  wife  of  Tom  Davies,  actor,  author,  and 
bookseller,  the  man  who  introduced  Boswell  to  Dr. 
Johnson.  Her  beauty  is  commemorated  in  a  couplet 
by  Churchill,  and  she  died  in  the  almshouse.  Wood- 
ward was  fine  as  Mercutio  and  Touchstone^  and  was 
deemed  the  model  of  all  grace.  The  Miss  Macklin  was 
Maria,  daughter  of  the  great  Shylock. 


Theatre    Royal  in  Dritry-Lane, 

This  prefent   Wednefday,  being  the  24th  of  Oilober, 
Will  be  Revived*  COMEDY,  call'd 

The    OLD     BATCHELOR. 

Fondlewife    by    Mr.    F  O  O  T  E, 
Bellmour    by    Mr.    PALMER, 
Sharper   by    Mr.    H  A  V  A  R  D, 
Vainlove   by  Mr.    JEFFERSON, 

Heart-well    by     Mr.     BERRY, 

Sir    Joseph    Wittol   Mr.   WOODWARD, 

Noll  Bluffe  by    Mr.   YATES, 

Setter  by   Mr.    BLAKES, 

Belinda    by    Mifs    H  A  U  G  H  T  O  N, 

Jramhita    by    Mrs.    D  A  V  I  E  S, 

Sylvia   by  '  Mrs.   COWPER, 

Lucy   by    Mrs.    B  E  N  N  E  T, 

Latitia    by    Mrs.    PRITCHARD. 

In  Act    III.  a  DANCE   proper  to  the  Play,  by 
Monf.    GERJRD,and  Mad.   LUSSJNT. 

To  which  will  be  added  a  COMEDY  in  Two  Ads,  call'd 

The     Englifhman     in    PARIS. 

Buck    by    Mr.    F  O  O  T  E, 

Lucinda    by    Mifs    M   A  C   K  L  I   N, 

(Being  the  Third  Time  of  her  appearing  upoti  that  Stage.) 

With    a    New    Occafional    PROLOGUE, 
and    the    Original    EPILOG  UE. 

Boxes  5s.     Pit  3s.     First  Gallery  2s.     Upper  Gallery  is. 

Places  for  the  Boxes  to  be  had  of    Mr.   V  A  R  N  E  V,  at   the  Stage- 
door  of  the  Theatre. 

t  No  Perfons  to  be  admitted  behind  the  Scenes,  nor  any  Money  to   be 
returned  after  the  Curtain  is  drazun  up.  Vivat  REX. 

24 


JEFFERSON   THE  FIRST.  2$ 

Jefferson  the  First  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife 
was  a  Miss  May,  daughter  of  a  gentleman  connected 
with  the  British  Navy,  and,  according  to  Gilliland's 
"  Dramatic  Mirror,"  he  agreed,  in  marrying  her,  to  forfeit 
£500  to  her  father,  in  case  she  should  ever  appear  upon 
the  stage.  This  was  at  the  town  of  Lewes,  where  Jef- 
ferson acted  for  two  seasons,  under  the  name  of  Bur- 
ton, in  the  dramatic  company  of  a  manager  named 
Williams.  A  number  of  the  ladies  of  that  place,  on  a 
subsequent  occasion,  wished  that  Mrs.  Jefferson  should 
appear  in  a  dramatic  performance  under  their  patron- 
age ;  and,  finding  Mr.  May's  bond  an  obstacle  to  their 
desire,  they  actually  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to 
annul  it.  Mrs.  Jefferson  thereupon  acted  Lady  Char- 
lotte, in  Sir  Richard  Steele's  comedy  of  "  The  Funeral  " 
(1702).  "The  ladies,"  says  the  "Mirror,"  "provided  the 
females  of  the  company  with  dresses  for  the  piece,  and 
it  was  played  three  nights,  each  person's  share  amount- 
ing to  six  guineas."  The  first  appearance  of  this 
actress  on  the  London  stage  was  made  at  Drury  Lane, 
October  6th,  1753,  as  Amu  Bullen. 

Mrs.  Jefferson  was  a  beautiful  woman,  and  of  a  lovely 
disposition,  and  that  part  of  the  married  life  of  Jeffer- 
son the  First  which  was  passed  in  her  society  was  se- 
renely happy.  She  bore  him  two  sons, — John  and 
Joseph.  The  former  became  a  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  went  as  a  missionary  to  China,  where 
he  was  immediately  murdered  by  persons  who  differed 
with  him  in  religious  opinion.  In  Rvlev's  "  Itinerant," 
(1S08),  a  mention  is  made  of  John  Jefferson,  a  son  of 
Thomas,  who,  it  is  said,  "was  very  tall,  very  slim,  very 


26  THE   JEFFERSONS.  "~ 

sallow,  and  a  very  poor  actor  "  ;  and  it  is  further  stated 
that  he  was  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind,  and  was  called 
"The  Parson."  This  may  have  been  the  pious  gentle- 
man who  "  disagreed  "  with  the  savages.  The  latter 
son  (Jefferson  the  Second)  became  an  actor,  and,  after 
a  brief  career  in  England,  emigrated  to  America,  and 
established  the  family  in  this  country.  The  mother  of 
these  boys,  whenever  named  in  old  theatrical  chroni- 
cles, is  named  not  merely  with  honor  and  affection,  but 
with  a  certain  evident  wonder  that  so  much  beauty 
could  coexist  with  so  much  goodness.  Even  her  death 
bore  witness  to  the  sunshine  of  her  nature  ;  for  she 
died  of  laughter.  Tom  Davies,  in  his  "  Life  of  Gar- 
rick,"  records  this  incident,  and  prettily  describes  the 
heroine  of  this  comical  disaster  :  — 

"  Britannia  was  represented  by  Mrs.  Jefferson,  the 
most  complete  figure,  in  beauty  of  countenance  and 
symmetry  of  form  I  ever  beheld.  This  good  woman  — 
for  she  was  as  virtuous  as  fair  —  was  so  unaffected  and 
simple  in  her  behavior  that  she  knew  not  her  power  of 
charming.  Her  beautiful  figure  and  majestic  step,  in 
the  character  of  Anne  Bullen,  drew  the  admiration  of 
all  who  saw  her.  She  was  very  tall,  and  had  she  been 
happy  in  ability  to  represent  characters  of  consequence, 
she  would  have  been  an  excellent  partner  in  tragedy 
for  Mr.  Barry.  In  the  vicissitudes  of  itinerant  acting 
she  had  been  often  reduced,  from  the  small  number  of 
players  in  the  company  she  belonged  to,  to  disguise 
her  lovely  form  and  to  assume  parts  very  unsuitable  to 
so  delicate  a  creature.  When  she  was  asked  what  char- 
acters she  excelled  in  most,  she  innocently  replied, 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  2J 

"old  men  in  comedy,"  —  meaning  such  parts  as  Fon- 
dlewtfe,  in  "The  Old  Bachelor,"  and  Sir  Jealous 
Traffic,  in  "The  Busybody."  She  died  suddenly  at 
Plymouth  as  she  was  looking  at  a  dance  that  was  prac- 
tising for  the  night's  representation.  In  the  midst  of  a 
hearty  laugh  she  was  seized  with  a  sudden  pain,  and 
expired  in  the  arms  of  Mr.  Moody,  who  happened  to 
stand  by,  and  saved  her  from  falling  on  the  ground." 
This  is  said  to  have  occurred  on  the  18th  of  July, 
1766. 

It  is  a  traditional  remembrance  in  the  Jefferson  fam- 
ily that  the  proximate  cause  of  this  catastrophe  was,  in 
fact,  a  rehearsal  of  Dicky  Gossip,  by  Edward  Shuter, 
who  had  come  from  London  to  play  at  the  Plymouth 
Theatre.  This  comedian,  the  original  representative  of 
Mr.  Hardcastle,  in  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,"  and  of 
Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  in  "  The  Rivals,"  was  thought 
by  Garrick  to  be  the  greatest  comic  genius  of  his  time. 
Shuter  died  in  1776.  "I  remember  him  as  justice 
Woodcock,  Scrub,  Feachum,  and  Sir  Francis  Gripe.  .  . 
His  acting  was  a  compound  of  truth,  simplicity,  and 
luxuriant  humor.  Never  was  an  actor  more  popular 
than  Shuter." —  John  Taylor's  u Records  of  my  Life" 
"He  was  more  bewildered  in  his  brain  by  wishing  to 
acquire  imaginary  grace,  than  by  all  his  drinking:  like 
Mawworm,  he  believed  he  had  a  call." —  Tate  Wil- 
kinson. Shuter  was  a  devout  Methodist,  and  a  fine 
Falstaff.  The  part  of  Britannia,  mentioned  by  1  >avies 
as  allotted  to  Mrs.  Jefferson,  occurs  in  a  masque  with 
that  name,  written  by  David  Mallet,  and  first  produced 
at  Drury  Lane  in  1755.      The  music  was  composed  by 


28  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Dr.  Arne.  A  comic  prologue  to  this  piece,  written  by 
Mallet  and  Garrick,  and  spoken  by  the  latter,  made 
a  brilliant  hit,  the  idea  being  a  tipsy  sailor  reading  a 
play  bill,  with  allusions  to  war  with  the  French.  "  The 
Old  Bachelor  "  is  the  earliest  of  Congreve's  comedies, 
(1693),  and  "The  Busybody,"  still  occasionally  acted, 
is  one  of  .Susanna  Centlivre's  (1709).  Mrs.  Jefferson  is 
mentioned  by  Geneste,  as  having  played  Mrs.  Fainall, 
in  Congreve's  comedy  of  "The  Way  of  the  World" 
(1700),  at  Drury  Lane,  on  March  15th,  1774,  for  the 
benefit  of  Mrs.  Abington.  Her  attributes  and  rank  as 
an  actress  may  be  deduced  from  these  facts. 

There  is  a  discrepancy  of  dates  bearing  on  the  ma- 
ternity of  Jefferson  the  Second,  which  should  be  stated 
here.  The  death  of  the  first  Mrs.  Thomas  Jefferson  is 
said  by  one  authority  to  have  occurred  in  1766;  by 
another,  in  1768.  The  birth  of  Jefferson  the  Second  is 
assigned  to  either  1 774  or  1776.  Accordingly  he  could 
not  have  been  the  son  of  his  father's  first  wife.  Yet  it 
is  known  that  he  had  a  step-mother :  one  cause  of  his 
leaving  home  and  emigrating  to  America,  indeed,  was 
his  dissatisfaction  with  his  father's  matrimonial  alliance  : 
and  there  is  no  record  that  Jefferson  the  First  was 
ever  married  more  than  twice.  It  would  be  irksome 
to  abandon  the  belief  that  the  mirth-making  race  of 
Jefferson  has  descended  from  the  lovely  lady  who  died 
of  laughter  on  the  Plymouth  stage  ;  but  it  seems  obvious 
from  this  presentation  of  the  records  that  either  the 
date  of  her  death  or  of  the  younger  Jefferson's  birth 
has  been  incorrectly  stated,  or  that  Jefferson  the  First 
in  reality  had  three  wives,  and  that  Jefferson  the  Second 


JEFFERSON   THE  FIRST.  29 

was  the  son  of  the  second  of  them.  One  account  of 
him  says  that  he  was  born  literally  on  the  stage,  and 
that  his  mother  died  shortly  afterwards.  It  is  a  coinci- 
dence, bearing  on  this  question  of  descent,  that  Jeffer- 
son the  Fourth  (Rip  Van  Winkle)  suffers  excruciating 
agony  at  the  base  of  the  brain,  from  any  inordinate 
laughter  into  which  he  may  be  impelled. 

Tate  Wilkinson,  in  his  agreeable  "  Memoirs  of  His 
Own  Life  "  (1790),  a  work  containing  several  instruct- 
ive allusions  to  Jefferson  the  First,  pays  a  passing  trib- 
ute to  the  first  Mrs.  Jefferson,  when  referring  to  the 
Exeter  episode  of  Jefferson's  career  as  a  manager  : 
'•  Early  in  December,  1764,  I  set  off  for  Exeter,  where 
Mr.  Jefferson,  my  old  friend  and  acquaintance  in  Dub- 
lin and  London,  was  then  become  the  manager,  and 
everything  then  promised  most  flatteringly  that  he 
would  soon  make  a  fortune.  But  the  substance  is  often 
changed  for  a  shadow,  nor  are  managers'  gains  so 
easily  amassed  as  the  public  can  gather  it  for  them. 
His  invitation  had  double  allurement :  first,  novelty, 
which  was  ever  prevalent ;  and  next,  to  see  so  pleasant 
and  friendly  a  man  as  he  had  ever  proved  to  me.  I 
joined  him  and  his  new  troop.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  at 
that  time  endeavoring  —  not  without  encouragement  — 
to  bring  that  theatre  into  a  regular  and  established  rep- 
utation. He  had  engaged  Mr.  Reddish*  and  many 
other  good  performers.     Mrs.  Jefferson,  his  first  uiie. 

*  Samuel  Reddish. —  lie  was  born  in  1740,  became  in=ane  in 
1779,  and  died  in  [785  in  an  asylum,  at  Vnrk.  John  Taylor,  who  saw 
and  knew  him,  records  that  he  chiefly  distinguished  himself  in  tin- 
characters  —  in  Shakespeare  — of  Edgar,  Posthumus,  and  Henry  the 
Sixth.  —  YV.  W. 


30  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

was  then  living.  She  had  one  of  the  best  dispositions 
that  ever  harbored  in  a  human  breast ;  and,  more  ex- 
traordinary, joined  to  that  meekness,  she  was  one  of 
the  most  elegant  women  ever  beheld." 

Jefferson's  second  (or  third)  wife  was  a  Miss  Wood,  sis- 
ter to  a  public  singer  of  that  name,  then  somewhat  distin- 
guished in  London.  She  was  a  worthy  lady,  though  less 
amiable  than  her  predecessor,  and  unpropitious  toward 
her  step-son.  She  did  not  attempt  the  stage.  The  chil- 
dren of  this  union  were  two  sons,  Frank  and  George, 
and  two  daughters,  Frances  and  Elizabeth.  Frank  has 
previously  been  mentioned,  as  at  one  time  commander 
of  the  royal  yacht  in  Virginia  Water,  at  Windsor. 
George  became  an  actor,  and  a  respectably  good  one ; 
and  he  also  had  talent  as  a  painter.  It  is  said  that  a 
titled  lady,  resident  near  Ripon.  established  in  her 
manor-house  a  small  gallery  of  his  works,  and  regularly 
bought  everything  that  he  painted,  —  binding  him,  by 
contract,  not  to  sell  his  productions  to  any  other  per- 
son. Elizabeth  died  in  youth.  Frances  was  married 
to  Mr.  Samuel  Butler,  manager  of  the  Harrowgate, 
Beverley,  and  Richmond  Theatres,  Yorkshire ;  and  in 
after  time  was  herself  known  upon  the  stage,  both  as 
manager  and  actress.  Mr.  F.  C.  Wemyss,  when  a  youth 
of  eighteen,  joined  Mrs.  Butler's  dramatic  company 
(April  1 2th,  1815)  at  Kendal,  in  Westmoreland  ;  and  he 
records,  in  his  "  Theatrical  Biography,"  that  he  there 
was  introduced  by  the  lady  to  Mr.  George  Jefferson,  her 
brother,  who  was  stage  manager.  This  branch  of  the  Jef- 
ferson family,  however,  has  contributed  nothing  of  per- 
manent importance  to  the  stage.      A  passing  reference, 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  3  I 

though,  should  be  made  to  the  professional  career  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Butler,  son  of  the  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  But- 
ler above  mentioned,  grandson  of  Jefferson  the  First,  and 
nephew  of  Jefferson  the  Second.  This  actor  appeared  at 
the  Bowery  Theatre,  New  York,  on  December  14th,  1831, 
as  Coriola?ius,  and  subsequently  he  played  Virginius, 
and  other  parts,  but  he  did  not  attract  much  attention. 
On  November  4th,  1841,  he  came  forward  at  the  Park 
Theatre,  as  Hamlet,  and  on  November  9th  acted  Wal- 
dcr,  in  "  Walder,  the  Avenger."  Ireland  refers  to  him 
and  says  :  "  Handsome  in  person,  graceful  in  action, 
and  correct  in  elocution,  he  still  lacked  the  inspiration 
necessary  to  rank  him  as  an  artist  of  the  first  class." 
His  wife,  who  accompanied  him,  is  mentioned  as  hav- 
ing surpassed  him  in  public  favor,  —  acting  Louisa,  in 
"  The  Dead  Shot,"  and  also  Gil  Bias.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Butler  returned  to  England,  and  both  are  now  dead. 

Jefferson  the  First  had  a  long  career.  He  was  on 
the  stage  from  about  1 746  to  almost  the  day  of  his  death, 
in  1807,  — a  period  of  sixty  years.  At  first  a  rover,  he 
saw  many  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  became  a  favorite 
in  the  theatrical  circles  of  many  communities.  He  then 
settled,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  into  the  steady  groove 
of  theatrical  management,  and  there  remained  till  the 
last.  His  most  prosperous  days  were  those  that  he 
passed  at  Plymouth,  where  it  is  singular  to  consider  he 
was  established  quite  by  chance.  He  had  been  asked 
to  come  there  as  manager  of  the  Plymouth  Theatre,  for 
a  salary  and  one-third  of  the  profits,  and  he  agreed  to 
tie,  on  condition  that  the  interior  of  the  theatre 
should  be  renovated.   This  was  promised,and  he  there- 


32  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

upon  sent  forward  carpenters  and  painters,  from  the 
theatre  at  Dublin,  where  he  happened  to  be  acting,  to 
do  this  work.  Before  these  artisans  reached  Plymouth 
the  owner  of  the  theatre,  a  Mr.  Kerby,  had  died  ;  nev- 
ertheless they  were  permitted  by  his  representative  to 
proceed  in  their  task.  Jefferson  soon  followed  with 
his  theatrical  company,  but  on  arriving  was  much  as- 
tonished to  learn  that  all  the  building  materials  used  by 
his  mechanics  had  been  supplied  on  the  credit  of  his 
own  name,  which  was  well  known  and  highly  respected, 
and  that  he  now  already  owed  £261  to  the  tradespeo- 
ple of  the  town.  The  heir-at-law  refused  to  assume 
this  debt,  or  undertake  any  responsibility  in  the  matter ; 
and,  thus  hampered,  Jefferson  determined  to  secure  a 
lease  of  the  theatre, — buying  its  scenery,  and  ward- 
robe,—  and  to  make  Plymouth  his  permanent  resi- 
dence. This  project  was  fulfilled.  He  remained  the 
sole  proprietor  till  1 7  70,  when  he  sold  one-third  inter- 
est to  the  Mr.  Foote,  of  Exeter,  with  whom,  in  the 
meantime,  he  had  been  associated  in  the  ownership  of 
the  theatre  at  that  town,  and  another  third  to  a  Mr. 
Wolfe,  of  Pynn.  This  partnership  lasted  till  1784, 
when,  upon  the  death  of  Foote,  Jefferson  inherited  half 
his  share,  and  Wolfe  the  other  half,  in  trust.  Three 
years    later,  in    the    winter    of    1787,  John    Bernard* 

*  John  Bernard.  —  This  actor,  famous  in  his  day  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  his  dry  humor  and  finished  manners,  and  equally  excellent  in  the 
lines  of  acting  typified,  by  Lord  Oglcby  and  Daslnvould,  was  born  at 
Portsmouth,  England,  in  1756.  He  went  on  the  stage  in  1774  and  left 
it  in  1S20.  After  a  time  of  provincial  tribulation,  he  succeeded  in  win- 
ning a  good  rank  on  the  London  stage,  and  was  long  a  favorite  at  Covent 
Garden.     Wignell  engaged  him  to  come  to  Philadelphia  in  1797,  and  he 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  33 

purchased  from  Jefferson  a  third  interest  in  the  Ply- 
mouth Theatre,  for  £400,  and  thereafter  Jefferson,  Ber- 
nard, and  Wolfe  were  partners  in  its  management,  till 
the  season  of  1795-96,  when  Bernard  sold  his  share, 
(apparently  to  another  Mr.  Foote,)  and  emigrated  to 
America.  Jefferson,  a  great  sufferer  from  gout,  was 
now  become  very  infirm,  —  so  that  he  had  to  be 
helped  in  and  out  from  house  to  theatre,  —  and  he  did 
not  long  retain  his  Plymouth  property,  after  Bernard's 
departure,  but  sold  it  for  the  consideration  of  an  an- 
nual benefit,  clear  of  expenses,  as  long  as  he  should 
live.  This  contract  was  fulfilled,  and  the  veteran  re- 
ceived a  testimonial  each  year  till  his  death.*  He  de- 
rived support,  also,  as  an  annuitant  from  "  The  Covent 
Garden  Theatrical  Fund,"  of  which  he  had  long  been 
a  member.  His  last  days,  notwithstanding  illness  and 
trouble,  were  marked  by  resignation  and  cheerfulness. 
He  was  an  entertaining  companion,  and  always  in  good 

was  there  connected  with  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre  until  1S03,  when 
he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  remained  three  years.  In  1S07  he 
appeared  at  the  New  Y 'ork  Park,  and  he  was  last  seen  in  New  York  in 
1813  at  the  Commonwealth  Theatre,  corner  of  Broadway  and  White 
street.  He  ultimately  returned  to  England,  and  died  in  London,  No- 
ber  20th.  1  8,  tged  enty-two.  His  ••  Retrospections  of  the 
e,"  edited  by  his  son  William  Bayle  Bernard,  is  a  charming  book, 
and  indeed  one  of  the  best  contributions  that  have  ever  been  made  to  the 
history  of  the  English  stage.  He  left  papers,  also,  from  which  his  son 
compiled  and  edited  "Early  Days  of  the  American  Stage,"  published 
in  Tallis's  "  Dramatic  Mag  1  '  (December  1850,  et  seq.).  BayleBer- 
nard  died  in  London,  August  9th,  [875.  lie  was  the  author  of  many 
plays,  notably  of  two  versions  of  "  Rip  Van  Winkle."  —  W.  W. 

*  "  1 1  1  1  1  rson's  b(  n  Lith)  is  always  well  and  fashiona- 

1,';  atti  nd  :d,  an  1  we  are  happy  to  add  the  last  two  years  have  been  par- 
ticularly lucrative."  —  Gilliland's  Dramatic  Mirror. 


34  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

spirits.  His  last  appearance  on  the  stage  was  made  in 
Aaron  Hill's  tragedy  of  "  Zara,"  as  the  aged,  dying  mon- 
arch, Lusignan,  a  character  whom  he  represented, 
seated  in  a  chair.  Wood  mentions  this  incident,  in  his 
"  Personal  Recollections,"  and  refers  to  an  acquaint- 
ance of  his,  who  was  present  on  this  night  and  witnessed 
the  ceremony  of  Jefferson's  final  retirement.  The  trag- 
edy of  "  Zara,"  produced  at  Drury  Lane  in  1736,  was 
borrowed  from  Voltaire's  "Zaire."  At  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  speedily  followed  his  farewell,  Jefferson  was 
at  Ripon,  on  a  visit  to  the  home  of  his  daughter  Frances 
(Mrs.  Butler),  and  it  was  there  that  he  was  seen  by  Mr. 
Drinkwater  Meadows.  His  residence  in  Plymouth  was 
a  house  adjoining  the  theatre,  and  a  view  of  these  prem- 
ises, taken  from  James  Winston's  "  Theatric  Tourist," 
is  one  of  the  illustrations  of  this  biography.  Winston 
directs  attention  to  the  comedian's  bedroom  window, 
which,  he  says,  is  an  object  in  this  print.  It  was  in 
this  theatre  that  the  first  Mrs.  Jefferson  died,  and  it  was 
in  this  house,  no  doubt,  that  Jefferson  the  Second  was 
born,  who  first  made  the  name  conspicuous  in  Amer- 
ican theatrical  history. 

In  Bernard's  first  season  with  Jefferson  (1787)  at 
Plymouth,  the  dramatic  company,  he  says,  was  "  more 
select  than  numerous.  Jefferson,  in  the  old  men,  se- 
rious and  comic,  was  a  host.  Wolfe,  my  other  partner, 
was  a  respectable  actor,  and  Mrs.  Bernard  and  myself 
were  established  favorites  from  the  metropolis.  Among 
the  corps  was  a  Mr.  Prigmore,"  —  who  afterwards  came 
to  America.  The  same  sprightly  writer  describes,  in  a 
most  amusing  strain,  the  average  audience  with  which 


JEFFERSON   THE  FIRST.  35 

the  actors  at  the  Plymouth  Theatre  were  favored  :  — 
"  Sailors  in  general,  I  believe,  are  very  fond  of  play- 
houses. This  may  be  partly  because  they  find  their 
ships  work-houses,  and  partly  because  the  former  are 
the  readiest  places  of  amusement  they  can  visit  when 
ashore.  I  remember,  on  my  first  trip  to  Plymouth,  I 
was  rather  startled  at  observing  the  effect  which  acting 
took  on  them,  as  also  their  mode  of  conducting  them- 
selves during  a  performance.  It  was  a  common  oc- 
currence, when  no  officers  were  present,  for  a  tar  in  the 
gallery,  who  observed  a  messmate  in  the  pit  that  he 
wished  to  address,  to  sling  himself  over  and  descend 
by  the  pillars,  treading  on  every  stray  finger  and  bill  in 
his  way.  When  his  communication  was  over,  and  before 
an  officer  could  seize  him,  up  again  he  went  like  a  cat, 
and  was  speedily  anchored  alongside  of  'Bet,  sweet  Blos- 
som.' The  pit  they  called  the  hold ;  the  gallery,  up 
aloft,  or  the  main-top  landing;  the  boxes  the  cabin, 
and  the  stage  the  quarter-deck.  Every  General  and 
gentleman  they  saluted  as  a  skipper;  every  soldier 
was  a  jolly,  or  lobster ;  and  the  varieties  of  old  and 
young  men  who  were  not  in  command  they  collectively 
designated  swabs.  Jefferson,  being  the  eldest,  was  a 
Rear- Admiral,  and  1  was  a  Commodore." 

The  merry  temperament  of  Jefferson  and  the  drifting 
kind  of  life  that  he  led,  in  common  with  his  comrades 
of  the  buskin,  in  "  the  good  old  times,"  are  pleasingly 
suggested  in  another  extract  from  the  same  book.  This 
anecdote,  as  showing  what  manner  of  man  old  Thomas 
Jefferson  was,  seems  worth  "  a  whole  history  "  in  the  way 
of  description  :  — 


36  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

"On  arriving  at  Plymouth  (1791)  I  found,  to  my 
great  surprise,  the  company  collected,  but  no  prepara- 
tions for  the  opening  of  the  theatre.  Wolfe  and  Jeffer- 
son were  away,  on  one  of  their  temporary  schemes,  and 
their  precise  point  of  destination  I  could  not  ascertain, 
till  Jefferson  came  over  from  the  little  town  of  Lost- 
withiel,  bringing  with  him  the  pleasing  intelligence  that 
the  result  of  the  speculation  had  placed  all  our  scenery 
and  wardrobe  in  jeopardy.  I  agreed  to  go  back  with 
him  and  play  for  his  benefit,  taking  with  me  our  singer, 
a  very  pleasant  fellow,  of  the  name  of  West. 

"  On  crossing  the  ferry  we  bought  a  quantity  of 
prawns,  which  we  agreed  to  reserve  for  a  snack  at  an 
inn,  where  Jefferson  said  there  was  some  of  the  finest 
ale  in  the  country.  West  and  myself,  however,  could  not 
resist  our  propensities  towards  a  dozen  of  the  prawns, 
which,  lying  at  the  top,  happened  to  be  the  largest,  in 
the  manner  of  pottled  strawberries,  to  cover  a  hundred 
small  ones.  Coming  to  a  hill,  West  and  I  jumped  out 
of  the  coach,  leaving  Jefferson  to  take  care  of  the  fish. 
We  had  just  reached  the  summit  when  we  heard  a  great 
bawling  behind  us,  and  looking  round  perceived  the 
coach  standing  still  at  the  foot  of  the  ascent,  and  Jef- 
ferson leaning  out  of  the  window  and  waving  his  hand. 
Imagining  some  accident  had  happened,  down  we  both 
ran,  at  our  utmost  speed,  and  inquired  the  matter.  Jef- 
ferson held  up  the  handkerchief  of  diminutive  prawns 
to  our  view,  and  replied,  '  I  wished  to  know  if  you 
wouldn't  like  a  few  of  the  large  ones.'  There  was  so 
much  pleasantry  in  this  reproof  that  we  could  only  look 
in  each  other's  face,  laugh,  and  toil  up  the  hill  again." 


JEFFERSON   THE   FIRST.  37 

Ryley's  "  Itinerant  "  *  gives  a  couple  of  anecdotes  of 
old  Thomas  Jefferson  which  here  will  not  be  misplaced  : 
"  Tom  Blanchard  came  to  play  a  few  nights,  and  with 
him  Jefferson  of  Exeter.  During  their  stay  we  received 
an  invitation  to  perform  "The  School  for  Scandal  "  and 
"An  Agreeable  Surprise,"  at  Torr  Abbey,  on  some 
grand  public  occasion  which  now  slips  my  memory. 
Three  chaises  conveyed  the  major  part  of  the  com- 
pany. Jefferson  rode  his  own  horse,  and  I  walked,  with 
my  dogs  and  gun.  During  the  journey,  we  thought  of 
nothing  but  British  hospitality  and  good  cheer.  Rich 
wines  and  fat  venison  were  descanted  upon  with  epicu- 
rean volubility  :  when,  behold,  we  were  shown  into  a 
cold,  comfortless  servants'  hall,  with  a  stone  floor.  Jef- 
ferson, who  was  a  martyr  to  the  gout,  looked  around 
him  with  disgust ;  and  when  the  servant  unfeelingly  in- 
quired whether  we  chose  any  dinner,  he  replied  :  '  Tell 
your  master,  friend,  that  after  his  death  he  had  better 
have  a  bad  epitaph  than  the  players'  ill  report  while  he 
lives.'  So  saying  he  remounted  his  horse,  and  left 
us  to  do  the  play  as  well  as  we  could  without  him." 
This  rebuke  had  a  good  effect,  for  the  butler  soon  made 
his  appearance  with  an  apology,  and  the  players  re- 
ceived courteous  entertainment  during  their  stay  at  Torr 
Abbey. 

Another  anecdote,  told  by  Ryley,  has  1  teen  illustrated 

*  Samuel  William  Ryley,  born  1755,  died  1S37.  —  lie  wrote 
a  musical  farce,  called  "The  Civilian,  or  Farmer  Turned  Footman" 
(1792),  a  comic  opera  on  the  subject  of  Smollett's  novel  of  "Rod- 
erick Random  "  (1793),  anc*  a  monologue  entertainment  entitled  "  New 
Brooms,"  which  contains  a  number  of  songs.  "  The  Itinerant,  or  Gen- 
uine Memoirs  of  an  Actor,"  was  published  in  1S0S.  — \Y.  W. 


L9j 


38  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

with  an  etching  by  Cruickshank,  published  in  "The 
Humorist "  :  "  The  last  night  of  Jefferson's  engage- 
ment, he  played  Hamlet,  for  his  own  benefit ;  and  Tom 
Blanchard,  ever  accommodating,  agreed  to  double 
Guildqpstern  with  the  Grave-Digger.  When  Hamlet 
called  for  '  the  recorders,'  Blanchard,  who  delighted 
in  a  joke,  instead  of  a  flute  brought  on  a  bassoon  used 
in  the  orchestra.  Jefferson,  after  composing  his  coun- 
tenance, which  the  sight  of  this  instrument  had  con- 
siderably discomposed,  went  on  with  the  scene  :  — 

"  H.  Will  you  play  upon  this  pipe  ? 

"  G.  My  lord,  I  cannot. 

"  H  I  pray  you. 

"  G.  Believe  me,  I  cannot. 

"  H  I  do  beseech  you. 

"  G.  Well,  my  lord,  since  you  are  so  very  pressing, 
I  will  do  my  best. 

'•  Tom,  who  was  a  good  musician,  immediately  struck 
up  '  Lady  Coventry's  Minuet,'  and  went  through  the 
whole  strain  —  which  finished  the  scene  ;  for  Hamlet 
had  not  another  word  to  say  for  himself." 

Bernard  speaks  of  Benjamin  Haydon,  father  of  the 
painter,*  as  a  resident  of  Plymouth,  in  those  old  days, 

*  Benjamin  Robert  Haydon,  born  1786,  died  1846.  —  Bernard, 
when  at  Plymouth,  often  dined  with  the  elder  Haydon,  and  he  relates 
this  anecdote  of  the  younger  :  "  His  son,  the  present  artist  of  celebrity, 
a  spirited,  intelligent  little  fellow  about  ten  years  of  age,  used  to  listen 
to  my  songs,  and  laugh  heartily  at  my  jokes,  whenever  I  dined  at  his 
father's.  One  evening  I  was  playing  Sharp,  in  "  The  Lying  Valet,"  when 
he  and  my  friend  Benjamin  were  in  the  stage-box  ;  and,  on  my  repeating 
the  words,  '  I  have  had  nothing  to  eat,  since  last  Monday  was  a  fort- 
night,' little  Haydon  exclaimed,  in  a  tone  audible  to  the  whole  house, 
'  What  a  vvhopper  !    Why,  you  dined  at  my  father's  house  this  after- 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  39 

and  as  his  friend  and  agent.  Mr.  Haydon  was  in  the 
habit  of  meeting  Jefferson  and  Wolfe,  and  consulting 
with  them  on  the  business  of  the  theatre,  and  regularly 
communicating  with  Bernard  in  London. 

The  old  theatrical  chronicles  are  not  very  communi- 
cative with  reference  to  Jefferson,  and  hence  it  is  not 
possible  to  embellish  this  narrative  with  many  incidents 
of  his  career  or  many  traits  of  his  character.  His  life 
seems  to  have  been  simple,  unostentatious,  industrious, 
and  kindly  ;  but,  although  he  was  well  known,  he  never 
occupied  a  place  of  great  prominence  in  the  public  eye 
or  in  the  records  of  his  time.  It  was  a  time,  in  theat- 
rical annals,  of  varied  and  brilliant  activity.  The  old 
story  —  so  often  told  —  of  Garrick's  sudden  dethrone- 
ment of  the  classic  style  of  acting,  makes  its  background. 
It  was  the  time  of  Woffington,  Weston,  Foote,  Mack- 
lin,  Henderson,  Bellamy,  King,  Mossop,  Shuter,  Wood- 
ward, Yates,  Mrs.  Pritchard,  and  Barry.  Cibber,  with 
the  traditions  of  the  age  of  Queen  Anne,  was  just  pass- 
ing from  the  scene,  while  Quin,*  with  his  Roman  dig- 
noon.'  It  was  on  this  occasion,  I  believe,  Mr.  B.  R.  Haydon  first  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  the  public."  —  "The  Lying  Valet"  is  a  comedy 
by  David  Garrick,  first  produced  at  Goodman's  Fields  Theatre,  in  1741, 
and  afterwards  acted  at  Drury  Lane.  —  \Y.  \Y. 

*  James  Quin,  1693-1766.  —  The  greatest  Falstaffol  the  iSth  cen- 
tury, and  a  man  of  sturdy  intellect,  imperious  character,  and  superb  wit. 
"  I  can  only  recommend  a  man  who  wants   to   see  a  character  perl. 
played  to  see  Quin  in  Falstaff."  -  "  His  sentiments,  though  hid 

under  the  rough  manner  he  had  assumed,  would  have  done  honor  to 
Cato."  —  George  Anne  Bellamy.  One  of  his  intimates  was  James 
Thomson,  the  poet,  who  wrote  of  him  as  follows,  in  "  The  Castle  of 
Indolence,"  Canto  I.,  stanza  67  :  — 

■•  Here  whilom  lagged  the  F.sofus  of  the  a 
But  called  by  fame,  in  soul  ypricked  deep, 


40  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

nity  and  pompous  declamation,  was  soon  to  follow. 
Sheridan  was  writing  his  comedies,  and  the  younger 
Colman  was  growing  up  to  rival  him.  It  was  the  time, 
in  literature,  of  Cowper,  Burns,  Goldsmith,  Gray,  and 
Johnson.  Burke  was  treading  the  stately  heights  of 
oratory,  and  the  terrible  Earl  of  Chatham  was  swaying 
the  rod  of  empire.  To  Jefferson  must  have  come,  as 
mere  news  of  the  day,  the  whole  thrilling  story  of  Clive's 
exploits  in  India,  and  the  strange  and  startling  tale  of 
Washington's  audacious  and  successful  rebellion  in  Amer- 
ica. He  could  have  heard,  as  an  incident  of  the  hour, 
of  the  suicide  of  Thomas  Chatterton,  in  Brook  Street, 
Holborn,  and  he  might  have  seen  the  burial  of  David 
Garrick  and  of  Samuel  Johnson,  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  glorious  death  of  Wolfe,  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham, 
and  the  splendid  historic  pageant  of  the  trial  of  Warren 
Hastings,  in  Westminster  Hall,  were  among  the  pass- 
ing occurrences  of  his  day.  Some  of  the  greatest  men 
of  the  eighteenth  century  witnessed  his  acting,  upon  the 
London  and  Dublin  stage.  It  is  instructive  thus  to 
ponder  upon  the  experience  of  a  man,  of  whom  only 
such  meagre  and  fleeting  records  now  remain,  but 
whose  labors  gave  pleasure   and   instruction  to  more 

A  noble  pride  restored  him  to  the  stage, 

And  roused  him  like  a  giant  from  his  sleep. 

Even  from  his  slumbers  we  advantage  reap  : 

With  double  force  the  enlivened  scene  he  wakes, 

Vet  quits  not  nature's  bounds.     He  knows  to  keep 

Each  due  decorum.     Now  the  heart  he  shakes, 

And  now  with  well-urged  sense  the  enlightened  judgment  takes." 

He  was  buried  in   Bath  Abbey,  where  the  visitor  still  reads  his  epi- 
taph, written  by  Garrick.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  4 1 

than  one  immortal  genius  of  a  noble  age.  He  lived 
till  close  on  the  beginning  of  the  regency  of  George 
the  Fourth,*  and  passed  away  just  as  the  new  forces  of 
Scott,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  Shelley,  were 
making  a  new  era  in  human  thought. 

One  of  the  strongest  impressions  derived  from  re- 
search into  this  actor's  history  is  the  impression  of  his 
heedless  amiability,  and  his  quiet,  droll  humor.  He 
was  scrupulously  honest,  but  he  had  no  economy.  The 
will  of  the  once  famous  Tom  Weston, |  the  great  low 
comedian,  who  almost  rivalled  Garrick  in  Abel  Drug- 
ger,  and  for  whom  Foote  wrote  the  character  of  Jerry 
Sneak,  contains  this  clause  :  "  Item.  I  have  played 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  Rich- 
mond, and   received   from    him    every  politeness.     I 

*  The  English  historic  period  covered  by  this  biography  of  the  Jef- 
fersons  is  as  follows  :  — 

George  II 1727-1760.  * 

George  III 1 760-1820. 

George,  Prince  of  Wales, 

as  Regent iS[i-iS2o. 

George  IV [820-1830. 

William  [V 1830-1! 

Victoria 1837,  whom  God  preserve. 

—  W.  W. 

t  Thomas  WESTON,  born  1727,  died  1776.  —  He  was  a  son  of  the 
chief  cook  to  George  the  Second,  After  a  wild  and  roving  youth  he  be- 
came an  actor,  and  was  in  Garrick's  company  at  Drury  Lane,  and  with 
Foote  at  the  old  Haymarket.  His  excellence  was  shown  in  such  parts 
as  Scrub,  Druggcr,  and  Jerry  Sneak.  He  seems  personally  to  have 
been  a  compound  of   Charles  Surface  and   />  ller.     He  was 

merry,  comic,  impn  and  too  fond  of  the  bottle  for  his 

own  good.  An  interesting  ski  ti  h  ol  him  will  he  found  in  John  Gait's 
"Lives  of  the  Players,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  232.  —  W.  W. 


42  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

therefore  leave  him  all  my  stock  of  prudence,  it  being 
the  only  good  quality  I  think  he  stands  in  need  of." 
He  had  that  fondness  for  a  joke  which,  to  this  day,  re- 
mains the   delightful   characteristic   of  his  tribe.      "  I 
acted  Bayes,  at  Exeter,"  says  Tate  Wilkinson,  "and 
spoke  a  speech  or  two  in  the  manner  of  old  Andrew 
Brice  (a  printer  of  that  city,  and  an  eccentric  genius). 
It  struck  the  whole  audience  like  electricity.     Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, who  performed  Johnson,  was  so  taken  by  sur- 
prise that  he  could  not  proceed  for  laughter."    And  on 
another  page  of  Wilkinson's  Memoirs  the  reader  sees 
Jefferson,  in  the  full  tide  of  innocent,  sportive  mischief, 
demurely  making  game  of  the  pompous  and  truculent 
Henry  Mossop,  —  a  man  with  no  fun  in  his  nature  and 
no  sense  of  humor,  and  therefore  the  obvious  prey  of 
the  joker.     Both  were  members,  at  this  time,  of  the 
Theatre  Royal,  Dublin  :    "  Jefferson,  who  loved  a  lit- 
tle mischief,  said  to  Mossop  one  day,  '  Sir,  I  was  last 
night  at  Crow  Street,  where  Wilkinson,  in  "  Tragedy  a- 
la-Mode  "  and  in  Bayes,  had  taken  very  great  liberties 
indeed,'  and  added  that  the  audience  were  ill-natured 
enough  to  be  highly  entertained ;    on  which  Mossop 
snuffed  the  air,  put  his  hand  on  his  sword,  and,  turning 
upon  his  heel,  replied, '  Yes,  sir  ;  but  he  only  takes  me  off 
a  little,'  and  made  his  angry  departure.     After  which  Jef- 
ferson never  again  renewed  the  subject ;  but  was  aston- 
ished, after  his  repeated  and  open  threats  of  vengeance, 
he  had  not  acted  more  consistently.    And  after  the  said 
Jefferson's  telling  me  that  circumstance,  I  never  heard 
more  of  Mr.  Mossop's  sword,  pistol,  Or  anger."     (Me- 
moirs,  Vol.  3,  p.  193.)     Mossop  had  previously,  in  an 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  43 

exceedingly  comic  interview  with  Wilkinson,  in  the 
street,  threatened  him  with  personal  violence.  "  '  Sir,' 
said  Mossop,  '  you  are  going  to  play  in  Crow  Street 
Theatre  with  Barry,  sir,  and,  sir,  I  will  run  you  through 
the  body,  sir,  if  you  take  the  liberty  to  attempt  my 
manner  by  any  mimicry  on  the  stage.  You  must  prom- 
ise me,  sir,  on  your  honor,  you  will  not  dare  attempt  it. 
If  you  break  that  promise,  sir,  you  cannot  live  ;  and 
you,  Mr.  Wil-kin-son,  must  die,  as  you  must  meet  me 
the  next  day,  and  I  shall  kill  you,  sir.'  I  told  him  it 
was  impossible  to  comply  with  that  his  mandate." 

A  reference  to  Jefferson  the  First,  which  interests 
theatrical  inquirers,  as  showing  how  near,  for  the  second 
time,  this  name  was  to  premature  extinction,  occurs  in 
a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Theophilus  Cibber,  published  in 
the  "  Biographia  Dramatica."  This  was  the  profligate 
son  of  Colley  Cibber,  the  poet-laureate,  and  he  was 
drowned  in  1758  (aged  fifty-five)  on  the  voyage  to  Ire- 
land. It  is  in  recording  this  catastrophe  that  the  "  Bi- 
ographia "  makes  allusion  to  Jefferson  :  — 

"Mr.  Cibber  embarked  at  Parkgate  (together  with 
Mr.  Maddox,  the  celebrated  wire-dancer,  who  had  also 
been  engaged  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  same  theatre*),  on 
board  the  1  hiblin  trader,  some  time  in  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober ;  but  the  high  winds  which  are  frequent  at  that 
time  of  the  year  in  St.  George's  Channel,  and  which  are 
fatal  to  many  vessels  in  the  passage  from  this  kingdom 
•  to  Ireland,  proved  particularly  so  to  this.     The  vessel 

*  The  Theatre  Royal,  Dublin',  managed  by  Thomas  Sin  i;i- 
DAN.who  was  much  pressed,  that  war,  by  the  opposition  of  the  theatre 
in  Crow  Street.     Indeed,  it  quite  ruined  him  there.  —  W.  W. 


44  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

was  driven  to  the  coast  of  Scotland,  where  it  was  cast 
away,  every  soul  in  it  (and  the  passengers  were  ex- 
tremely numerous)  perishing  in  the  waves,  and  the  ship 
itself  so  entirely  lost  that  scarcely  any  vestige  of  it  re- 
mained to  indicate  where  it  had  been  wrecked,  except- 
ing a  box  containing  books  and  papers  which  were 
known  to  be  Mr.  Gibber's,  and  which  were  cast  up  on 
the  western  coast  of  Scotland.  [So  said  Mr.  Baker,* 
but  this  was  a  mistake  ;  for  we  have  since  found  that 
in  this  ship  in  which  Theoph.  Gibber,  Maddox,  and 
others  perished,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Arthur 
and  family,  Mrs.  Chambers,  and  some  others  were 
passengers,  and,  by  leaping  into  a  small  boat,  were 
saved. "] 

A  peculiarity  in  Thomas  Jefferson's  character,  and  a 
singular  incident  in  his  experience,  are  thus  stated  by 
his  grand- daughter,  Elizabeth  Jefferson,  in  a  letter  to 
the  present  biographer  of  her  family  :  "  My  grand- 
father had  a  great  aversion  to  litigation  and  lawyers. 
I  remember  having  been  told  of  an  instance  of  this. 
He  had  paid  a  large  sum  of  money  to  a  creditor,  but 
had  mislaid  the  receipt ;  and  it  happened  that  in  time 
this  same  bill  was  again  presented  for  payment.  He 
explained  and  protested,  but  his  creditor  was  positive, 
and  finally  my  grandfather  was  sent  to  jail.  My  father 
voluntarily  went  there,  along  with  him  to  take  care  of 

*  David  Erskine  Baker,  who  projected  and  began  the  Biogra- 
phia,  bringing  the  record  to  1764.  Isaac  Reed,  F.  A.  S.,  subsequently 
continued  this  useful  chronicle  to  1782,  and  Stephen  Jones  brought 
it  onward  to  1S11.  The  writer  who  shall  extend  it  to  the  present  day 
will  render  a  great  service.  — W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  45 

him,  and  for  a  whole  year  they  endured  imprisonment. 
At  last  the  missing  receipt  was  found,  and  their  prison 
doors  were  opened.  My  grandfather  was  now  urged 
to  bring  an  action  for  damages,  and,  doubtless,  he 
might  have  recovered  a  large  sum  ;  but  his  invincible 
repugnance  to  litigation  restrained  him,  and  he  reso- 
lutely refused  to  proceed,  being  content  with  his  liberty 
and  with  the  contrite  apology  offered  by  his  hard  cred- 
itor. My  father's  devotion  to  him  was  never  forgotten ; 
nor — by  his  step-mother  —  ever  forgiven." 

Jefferson  the  First  died  at  Ripon,  January  24,  1807. 
The  contemporary  records  of  the  event  are  meagre,  and 
they  offer  a  strong  contrast  to  the  kind  of  chronicle 
which  now-a-days  is  made  of  the  death  of  a  distin- 
guished man.  The  Gentleman 's  Magazine  for  March, 
1807,  presents,  for  example,  the  subjoined  obituary  no- 
tice :  "  Died.  —  At  Ripon,  County  of  York,  while  on  a 
visit  to  a  daughter,  Mr.  Jefferson,  comedian,  —  the 
friend,  contemporary,  and  exact  prototype  of  the  im- 
mortal Garrick.  He  had  resided  many  years  at  Plym- 
outh ;  and  as  often  as  his  age  and  infirmities  permitted 
he  appeared  on  that  stage  in  characters  adapted  to 
lameness  and  decay,  and  performed  them  admirably, 
particularly  at  his  last  benefit,  when  he  personated  Lu- 
signan  and  Lord  Chalkstone.  We  know  not  whether 
Mr.  Hull  or  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  father  of  the  British 
stage  ;  they  were  both  of  nearly  an  equal  standing.  To 
the  Theatrical  Fund,*  of  which  the  former  is  founder 

*  The  Theatrical  Fund  of  London  was  instituted  at  Covent  Gar- 
den Theatre,  December  22d,  1 765,  and  confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament  in 
1766.    It  still  exists.    The  idea  of  it  was  suggested  by  Mr.  George  Mat- 


46  THE  JEFFERSOXS. 

and  treasurer,  the  latter  owed  the  chief  support  of  his 
old  age."  A  passing  reference  to  the  same  bereave- 
ment is  made  as  follows  in  the  "  Annual  Register  "  for 
1807  :  "Mr.  Jefferson  was  on  a  visit  to  a  daughter, 
who  is  settled  in  Yorkshire,  when  death  closed  the  last 
scenes  of  this  honest,  pleasant,  much  esteemed  man." 

This  chapter  of  notices  of  the  life  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son cannot  better  be  concluded  than  with  these  sugges- 
tive reflections  made  by  Mr.  James  Smith,  of  Melbourne, 
a  diligent  and  appreciative  student  of  theatrical  history, 
and  one  of  the  most  sprightly  and  ingenious  writers  of 
the  Australian  world.  "  What  times  to  have  lived  in," 
this  moralist  exclaims,  "  and  what  men  and  women  to 
have  known  !  He  saw  Old  Drury  in  the  height  of  its 
glory,  and  Garrick  in  the  zenith  of  his  renown.  He 
flirted  with  Kitty  Clive,  and  supped  with  Fanny  Abington. 

tocks  ;  the  plan  was  carried  into  practical  effect  by  Thomas  Hull.  In 
the  churchyard  of  St.  Margaret's,  a  few  yards  from  the  north  porch  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  may  be  read  on  a  gravestone  this  inscription,  —  the 
lines  by  John  Taylor  :  — 

Also  to  the  Memory  of 

Thomas  Hull,  Esq., 

Late  of  the 

Theatre  Royal,  Covent  Garden, 

who  departed  this  life 

April  22d,  1808, 

In  the  79th  year  of  his  age. 

Hull,  long  respected  in  the  scenic  art, 

On  this  world's  stage  sustained  a  virtuous  part ; 

And  some  memorial  of  his  zeal  to  shew 

For  his  loved  Art,  and  shelter  age  from  woe, 

Founded  that  noble  Fund  which  guards  his  name, 

Embalmed  by  Gratitude,  enshrined  by  Fame. 

—  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FIRST.  47 

He  listened  to  the  silver  tones  of  Spranger  Barry,  and  was 
melted  by  the  pathos  of  Susanna  Cibber.  He  chuckled 
at  the  sight  of  Sam  Foote  mimicking  Mr.  Aprice,  and 
of  Tate  Wilkinson  mimicking  Sam  Foote.  He  saw 
the  curtain  rise  before  an  audience  that  included  Lord 
Chancellor  Camden  and  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield, 
William  Hogarth  and  Charles  Churchill,  Edmund  Burke 
and  Edward  Gibbon.  He  heard  Goldsmith's  child-like 
laugh,  and  Dr.  Johnson's  gruff  applause.  He  saw  the 
courtly  sarcasm  sparkle  in  Horace  Walpole's  eyes,  and 
the  jest  quivering  on  Selwyn's  lip.  He  recognized  the 
quaint  figure  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  in  the  boxes,  and 
the  brilliant,  homely  face  of  Thomas  Gainsborough  in 
the  pit.  And,  above  all,  he  trod  the  same  stage  with 
the  English  Roscius,  and  was  privileged  to  watch  every 
movement  of  that  marvellous  face.  This  was,  indeed, 
an  uncommon  and  a  happy  fate  !  What  pleasant  hours 
he  must  have  spent  with  Garrick  at  Hampton,  and  what 
a  fund  of  anecdote  he  must  have  accumulated  with 
which,  in  his  age,  to  charm  his  cronies  at  Plymouth  ! 
He  had  seen  King  carry  the  town  by  storm  as  Lord 
Oglcby  in  'The  Clandestine  Marriage,'  and  Garrick 
take  his  farewell  of  the  stage.  He  could  recall  the  airy 
flutter  of  Dodd,  the  rollicking  Irish  humor  of  Moody, 
the  well-bred  case  of  Palmer,  the  eloquent  by-play  of 
Parsons,  the  versatility  of  Bannister,  the  strong,  melo- 
dious voice  of  Holland,  the  ardor  of  Powell,  the  whim- 
sical drollery  of  Reddish,  Mossop's  harmonious  delivery, 
and  Macklin's  rumbling  growl,  lie  had  seen  the  Ab- 
ingtons,  the  Baddeleys,  the  Gibbers,  the  Gives,  and  the 
whole  splendid  phalanx  of  the  Garrick  dynasty,  pass 


48  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

from  the  scene  ;  and  he  had  lived  to  view  the  rise  of  the 
Kembles,  and  to  hear  the  thrilling  accents  of  Mrs.  Sid- 
dons,  and  the  sweet,  bubbling  laugh  of  Dora  Jordan. 
What  reminiscences  might  have  been  written  by  Jeffer- 
son the  First  !  " 

Note.  —  The  character  of  Lord  Chalkstone  occurs  in  Gar- 
rick's  farce  of  "Lethe,"  first  produced  at  Drury  Lane,  in  1748. 
It  had  been  presented  three  years  earlier,  in  a  different  form, 
at  Goodman's  Fields  Theatre,  under  the  title  of  "  yEsop  in  the 
Shades."  Garrick  himself  was  the  original  Lord  Chalkstone.  — 
Tate  Wilkinson  was  born  October  27th,  1739,  and  died  De- 
cember 1st,  1803.  —  The  play-bill,  of  which  a  fac-simile  appears 
above,  bears  the  MS.  date  of  1751 ;  but  Foote,  whose  name  oc- 
curs in  it,  was  absent  from  England  from  1749  to  1752.  The 
true  date,  probably,  is  1753.  —  The  "  Covent  Garden  horses," 
mentioned  by  Mrs.  Abington,  were  a  number  of  actual  steeds, 
exhibited  at  that  theatre,  in  181 1,  in  processions,  in  "Blue 
Beard  "  and  "  The  Forty  Thieves."  Sheridan  referred  to  them 
in  this  couplet :  — 

"  How  arts  improve  in  this  degenerate  age  ! 
Peers  mount  the  box,  and  horses  tread  the  stage!" 

The  cost  of  conducting  a  theatre  was  much  less,  a  hundred 
years  ago,  than  it  is  now.  The  salaries  paid  to  actors  were 
smaller.  Spranger  Barry  and  his  wife  received,  at  Drury  Lane, 
m  1773,  ^50  a  week  —  for  the  two.  Lacy  was  paid  £\(y  \y. 
Garrick  received  £^A  3-r.  The  total  payment  for  a  week 
amounted  to  ,£522  js  6d.  These  figures  are  from  Notes  and 
Queries.  Dunlap  states  his  total  expenses,  at  the  N.  Y.  Park, 
in  the  season  of  179S-99  at  less  than  $1,200  a  week.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON    THE    SECOND. 

1774- 1832. 


"  Noble  he  was,  contemn: fig-  all  things  mean, 
His  truth  unquestioned  and  his  soul  serene. 
Shame  knew  him  not,  he  dreaded  no  disgrace, 
Truth,  simple  truth,  -was  written  in  his  face  ; 
Yet,  while  the  serious  thought  his  soul  approved, 
Cheerful  he  seemed  and  gentleness  he  loved  ; 
To  bliss  domestic  he  his  heart  resigned, 
And  with  the  firmest  had  the  fond  at  mind. 
Were  others  joyful,  he  looked  smiling  on, 
And  gave  allowance  where  he  needed  none. 
Good  he  refused  with  future  ill  to  buy, 
Nor  knew  a  joy  that  caused  reflection 's  sigh. 
A  friend  to  virtue,  his  unclouded  breast 
No  envy  stung,  no  jealousy  distressed ; 
Yet  far  was  he  from  stoic  pride  removed,  — 
He  fell  humanely,  and  he  warmly  loved."  —  CRABBE. 


JEFFERSON   THE    SECOND. 


Joseph  Jefferson,  the  second  of  this  family  of  actors, 
and  one  of  the  most  honorably  distinguished  perform- 
ers that  have  graced  the  theatre,  was  born  at  Plymouth, 
England,  in  1774.  His  early  education  was  conducted 
with  care,  and  he  received,  under  the  guidance  of  his 
parents,  a  careful  training  for  the  stage.  While  yet  a 
lad  he  acted  in  the  Plymouth  Theatre,  —  after  Bernard 
had  become  associated  with  his  father  and  Mr.  Wolfe 
in  its  management.  His  youth,  so  far  as  can  be  judged 
from  the  little  that  is  known  of  it,  was  commendable 
for  patience,  industry,  and  filial  devotion.  He  appears 
to  have  matured  early,  and  to  have  been  capable  of  far- 
sighted  views  and  the  steady  pursuit  of  a  definite  pur- 
pose in  life.  He  did  not  find  his  home  comfortable 
after  his  father's  second  (or  third)  marriage,  and  also 
he  sympathized  with  the  republican  tone  of  feeling, 
which  at  that  disturbed  period  —  intervening  between 
the  revolt  of  the  British  colonies  in  America  and  the 
great  and  terrible  French  Revolution  —  was,  to  some 
extent,  rife  in  England.  Thus  he  had  two  causes  of 
discontent;  and  these,  operating  together,  finally  im- 
pelled him  to  emigrate  to  America.  The  opportunity 
was  afforded  by  C.  S.  Powell,  of  Boston,  who  had  come 
to  England,  in  1793,  to  enlist  actors  for  the  new  thea- 


52  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

tre  in  that  city,  and  with  his  aid  the  way  for  the  young 
adventurer  was  soon  made  clear.  Powell  agreed  to  pay 
the  passage  money,  and  a  salary  of  $17  a  week.  Jef- 
ferson came  over  in  1795,  an<^  from  that  time  forward 
his  lot  was  cast  with  the  people  of  this  land.  He  never 
returned  to  England.  His  American  career  lasted 
thirty-seven  years,  and  of  him  truly  it  may  be  said  that 
he  deserved  and  received  every  mark  of  honor  that  the 
respect  and  affection  of  the  community  could  bestow 
upon  genius  and  virtue.  His  character  was  impressive, 
and  at  the  same  time  winning.  His  life  was  pure.  His 
professional  exertions  were  well  directed,  and  for  a  long 
time  his  name  retained  a  brilliant  prestige.  Domestic 
afflictions  and  waning  popularity,  indeed,  overshadowed 
his  latter  days ;  but,  when  we  remember  this,  we  must 
also  remember  that  the  fifth  act  of  life's  drama  can 
never  be  otherwise  than  sad,  and  that  this  actor,  before 
it  came,  had  enjoyed,  in  ample  abundance,  the  sunshine 
of  prosperity. 

Charles  Stuart  Powell,  under  contract  to  whom  Jef- 
ferson came  to  America,  was  the  first  manager  of  the 
Boston  Theatre,  in  Federal  Street,  which  he  opened  on 
February  3d,  1794  ;  but  sixteen  months  of  bad  business 
sufficed  to  make  the  manager  a  bankrupt,  and  on  June 
19th,  1  795,  he  closed  his  season  and  left  the  theatre  ;  so 
that  Jefferson,  when  he  reached  Boston,  found  the 
house  in  stranger  hands,  and  ascertained  that  his  ser- 
vices were  not  wanted.  The  new  manager,  however, 
had  engaged  the  company  of  Hodgkinson  and  Hallam, 
from  the  John  Street  Theatre,  in  New  York,  which  acted 
at  the   Boston  Theatre,  from  November   2d,  1795,  till 


""*** 


*%. 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  53 

January  20th,  1 796  ;  and  with  those  players  —  and  es-* 
pecially  with  Hodgkinson — Jefferson  seems  to  have 
formed  an  early  acquaintance  and  alliance.  There  is  a 
dubious  tradition  that  Hodgkinson  and  Hallam,  before 
their  return  to  New  York  on  this  occasion,  gave  per- 
formances at  one  or  two  intermediate  towns,  and  that 
Jefferson,  who  had  accepted  employment  with  them  as 
scene  painter,  on  condition  that  he  might  have  one 
night  for  a  trial  appearance,  came  out  as  La  Gloire,  in 
Colman's  play  of  "  The  Surrender  of  Calais,"  at  one  of 
these  places,  and  made  so  brilliant  a  hit  that  Hodgkin- 
son at  once  engaged  him  for  the  John  Street  Theatre. 
But  the  historic  record  of  his  first  important  appear- 
ance *  in  America  assigns  it  to  that  theatre,  in  New 
York,  on  February  10th,  1796,  when  he  came  forward 
as  Squire  Richard,  in  "  The  Provoked  Husband." 
This  was  the  opening  night  of  the  season,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Johnson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tyler,  and  Mrs.  Brett  — 
all  from  England  —  were  also  then  seen  for  the  first 
time  in  the  American  capital.     William  Dunlap,  the  au- 

*  J1  »N  IN  Boston.  —  Reference  to  the  advertisements  in  the 

"Columbian  Centinel"  (1795)  eIicit*  the  information  that,  on  December 
21st  that  year,  "  Macbeth  "  was  acted  at  the  Federal,  with  "  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son '  .1-  oni  oi  the  witchc  ;  that,  on  December  23d,  "  The  Tempest"' 
was  given,  with  "  Mr.  fefferson  "  in  a  minor  character;  and  that  on  De- 
cember 28th,  for  the  benefit  ol  M.  de  Blois,  "  Mr.  Jefferson"  appeared, 
and  sang  the  comic  song  of  "John  Hull's  .1  Bumpkin."  Mr.  W.  W. 
Clapp,  whose  careful  and  thorough  record  of  "The  Boston  Stage"  is 
of  permanent  value  to  theatrical  inquirers,  apprises  the  writer  thai  no 
particular  mention  of  the  name  of  Jefferson  occurs  in  any  of  the  pa- 
pers that  he  consulted  in  making  his  chronicle  of  that  time  ;  while  the 
only  Jeffersons  mentioned  in  his  book  are  of  the  fourth  generation. 
—  W.  \Y. 


54  THE  JEFFERSOKS. 

thor  of  the  "  History  of  the  American  Theatre  "  (to 
about  1 812),  witnessed  this  performance,  and  has  left 
this  mention  of  Jefferson  :  "  He  was  then  a  youth,  but 
even  then  an  artist.  Of  a  small  and  light  figure,  well 
formed,  with  a  singular  physiognomy,  a  nose  perfectly 
Grecian,  and  blue  eyes  full  of  laughter,  he  had  the  fac- 
ulty of  exciting  mirth  to  as  great  a  degree,  by  power  of 
feature,  although  handsome,  as  any  ugly-featured  low 
comedian  ever  seen.  The  Squire  Richard  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson made  a  strong  impression  on  the  writer.  His 
Sadi,  in  '  The  Mountaineers,'  a  stronger ;  and,  strange 
to  say,  his  Verges,  in  '  Much  Ado  About  Nothing,'  a 
yet  stronger." 

Among  the  references  made  to  Jefferson's  career  in 
New  York  is  the  following,  embodied  in  an  anecdote 
told  by  Dunlap  respecting  the  debut  of  Mr.  John  D. 
Miller,  the  son  of  a  baker,  who  came  forth  as  Clement, 
in  "The  Deserted  Daughter  "  :  — 

"Miller's  debut  is  fresh  in  our  recollection,  as  con- 
nected with  the  admirable  acting  of  Jefferson,  in  the 
character  of  Item,  the  attorney,  whose  clerk  Miller  rep- 
resented. Worked  up  to  a  phrensy  of  feigned  passion, 
Jefferson,  a  small-sized  man,  seized  Miller  by  the  breast, 
and,  while  uttering  the  language  of  rage,  shook  him  vi- 
olently. Miller,  not  aware  that  he  was  to  be  treated  so 
roughly,  was  at  first  astonished ;  but  as  Jefferson  con- 
tinued shaking,  and  the  audience  laughing,  the  young 
baker's  blood  boiled,  and  calling  on  his  physical  ener- 
gies, he  seized  the  comedian  with  an  Herculean  grasp, 
and  violently  threw  him  off.  Certainly  Miller  never 
played  with  so  much  spirit  or  nature  on  any  subsequent 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  55 

occasion.  This  may  remind  the  reader  of  John  Kem- 
ble's  regret  at  the  death  of  Suett,  the  low  comedian, 
who  played  Weasel,  to  Kemble's  Penruddock  (in  '  The 
Wheel  of  Fortune  ;  "  comedy,  by  Richard  Cumber- 
land ;  Drury  Lane,  1795.)  The  lament  of  the  trage- 
dian is  characteristic,  as  told  by  Kelly :  '  My  dear 
Mic,  Penruddock  has  lost  a  powerful  ally  in  Suett.  Sir, 
I  have  acted  the  part  with  many  Weasels,  and  good 
ones  too,  but  none  of  them  could  work  up  my  passions 
to  the  pitch  Suett  did.  He  had  a  comic,  impertinent 
wsty  of  thrusting  his  head  into  my  face,  which  called 
forth  all  my  irritable  sensations.  The  effect  upon  me 
was  irresistible.'  Such  was  the  effect  of  Jefferson's 
shaking  upon  Miller,  and  Jefferson  found  the  Yankee's 
arm  equally  irresistible." 

The  old  John  Street  Theatre  —  first  opened  on  De- 
cember 7th,  1767,  and  finally  closed  January  13th, 
1798  —  was  the  precursor  of  the  old  Park.  Jefferson 
remained  connected  with  it  for  nearly  two  years,  and 
when  it  closed  he  transferred  his  services  to  "  The  New 
Theatre,"  as  the  Park  was  at  first  styled,  which  was 
opened  on  January  29th,  1  798,  under  Uunlap's  man- 
agement. He  received  a  salary  of  $23  a  week,  which, 
in  the  next  season,  was  increased  to  $25.  Hallam  and 
Cooper,  in  the  same  company,  received  $25  each. 
The  highest  salary  paid  in  Dunlap's  list  was  S37,  to 
Mrs.  Oldmixon.  The  manager's  main-stay  in  tragedy 
was  Cooper,  and  in  low  comedy  was  Jefferson. 

On  his  first  arrival  in  New  York;  Jefferson  had  found 
a  lodging  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Fortune,  in  John  Street, 
adjoining  the  theatre.    This  lady,  whose  ashes,  together 


56  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

with  those  of  her  husband,  now  rest  in  the  churchyard 
of  old  St.  Paul's,  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Vesey 
Street,  was  the  widow  of  a  Scotch  merchant,  and  she 
had  two  daughters,  who  were  residing  with  her  at  this 
time.  One  of  these  girls,  Euphemia,  soon  became 
the  wife  of  Jefferson.  The  other,  Esther,  some  years 
later,  married  William  Warren  —  being  his  second  wife  — 
and  in  this  way  the  families  of  Jefferson  and  Warren, 
both  so  highly  distinguished  on  our  stage,  were  allied. 
Warren,*  born  at  Bath,  England,  in  1 767,  had  acted  un- 
der the  management  of  Jefferson  the  First,  and  now,  ar- 
riving in  America  in  1 796,  he  was  destined  to  become, 
ten  years  later,  the  brother-in-law  of  Jefferson  the  Sec- 
ond. His  son,  William  Warren,  born  of  this  marriage  (in 
181 2),  is  the  admirable  comedian  so  long  a  favorite  and 
so  much  honored  and  beloved  in  Boston.  Mrs.  Jeffer- 
son made  her  first  appearance  on  the  stage,  December 

*  William  Warren,  after  the  wreck  of  his  fortunes  at  the  Chest- 
nut Street  Theatre,  rapidly  declined  in  strength  and  spirits,  and  soon 
died.  His  death  occurred  at  Baltimore,  on  October  19th,  1832.  His  age 
was  sixty-five.  Five  of  his  children  became  members  of  the  stage : 
I.  Hester,  first  Mrs.  Willis,  afterwards  Mrs.  Proctor,  died  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  in  1S42.  II.  Anna,  who  became  the  wife  of  the  celebrated  com- 
edian, Danford  Marble,  and  died  in  Cincinnati,  March  nth,  1S72. 
III.  Emma,  first  Mrs.  Price,  afterwards  Mrs.  Hanchett ;  died  in  New 
York,  in  May,  1S79.  iV-  Mary  Ann,  who  married  John  B.  Rice, 
afterward  mayor  of  Chicago,  and  always  throughout  his  life,  one  of  the 
best  and  most  honored  and  beloved  of  men.  She  retired  from  the  stage 
in  1856,  and  is  still  living  in  Chicago,  a  widow.  V.  William  Warren, 
of  Boston,  the  renowned  comedian.  He  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  No- 
vember 17th,  1812;  early  adopted  the  stage,  and  rapidly  rose  to  emi- 
nence; made  his  first  appearance  in  Boston,  October  5th,  1S46,  at  the 
Howard  Athensum,  acting  Sir  Lucius  C  Trigger,  in  "The  Rivals," 
and  ever  since  has  been  closely  identified  with  the  Boston  stage.  Far 
distant  be  the  day  that  takes  him  from  us  !  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON   THE   SECOND. 


57 


2  2d,  1800,  at  the  Park,  as  Louisa  Dudley,  in  "The 
West  Indian."  She  was  then  twenty-four  years  old. 
She  subsequently  removed,  with  her  husband,  to  Phila- 
delphia, where  she  was  long  an  ornament  to  the  stage 
and  society.  She  died  in  January,  183 1,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six. 

Jefferson's  career  at  the  Park  Theatre  extended 
through  five  regular  seasons,  ending  in  the  spring  of 
1803.  Its  current  can  be  traced,  by  the  patient  inqui- 
rer, in  the  useful,  reminiscent  pages  of  Dunlap.  One  of 
Jefferson's  first  hits  was  made  as  Peter,  in  "  The  Stran- 
ger," which  was  performed  for  the  first  time  in  America 
in  December,  1 798,  at  the  Park.  Dunlap  had  got  pos- 
session of  a  sketch  of  the  plot,  together  with  a  portion 
of  the  dialogue  of  Kotzebue's  play,  then  successful  in 
London,  as  rearranged  by  Sheridan  for  Drury  Lane,  and 
he  promptly  wrote  a  piece  upon  the  basis  of  these 
materials,  telling  no  one  but  Cooper  his  secret,  and 
this  was  produced  anonymously,  with  the  following 
cast :  — 


The  Stranger'  . 
Francis  .  .  . 
Baron  Steinfort 
Solomon  .  .  . 
Peter  .  .  .  . 
Mis.  Ilaller  .     . 

Chambermaid   . 

■ 

'lies.-.  Steinfort 


Mr.  Cooper. 
Mr.  Martin. 
Mr.  Barrett. 
Mr.  Hates. 
Mr.  J  1  I  FERSON. 
Mrs.  Barrett. 
Mis.  Seymour. 
Mrs.  Hallam. 


Cooper,  it  appears,  produced  a  great  effect  ;  Mrs. 
Barrett  was  powerful  and  touching  ;  Martin  was  cor- 
rect ;  and  Bates  and  Jefferson  pleased  the  lovers  of 


58  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

farce,  —  "  for  such  the  comic  portion  of  the  play  liter- 
ally was."  "  The  Stranger  "  insured  the  success  of  the 
entire  season,  and  the  manager  was  so  much  pleased 
that  he  immediately  studied  and  learned  the  German 
language,  and  thereupon  opened  upon  the  Park  stage  a 
perfect  sluice  of  the  sentimental  rubbish  of  Kotzebue. 
The  actors  sneered  at  it  as  "  wretched  Dutch  stuff," 
and  well  they  might ;  yet,  for  a  time,  it  was  almost  as 
epidemic  as  the  yellow-fever,  which  in  those  days  dev- 
astated, at  intervals,  the  whole  Atlantic  coast. 

Many  other  bad  low-comedy  parts  and  old  men  fell 
to  Jefferson  during  his  five  years  at  the  Park.  He 
played  them  all,  however,  in  the  most  conscientious 
and  thorough  manner.  As  La  Fleur,  in  Dunlap's  op- 
era of  "  Sterne's  Maria,"  a  singing  part,  he  acquitted 
himself  with  especial  brilliancy.  Mrs.  Oldmixon,  Miss 
Westray,  Mrs.  Seymour,  Cooper,  Tyler,  young  Hallam, 
and  Hogg  were  in  the  cast.  The  ladies  were  all  sing- 
ers, but  only  Jefferson  and  Tyler  among  the  males 
could  sing.  Another  of  his  admirable  delineations  was 
that  of  Jack  Bowline,  the  rough  old  Boatswain,  in  an 
adaptation  from  Kotzebue,  with  the  engaging  title  of 
"  Fraternal  Discord."  Hodgkinson,  who  had  joined 
the  Park  company  in  the  autumn  of  i  799,  enacted  Cap- 
tain Bertram,  a  gouty  mariner,  in  this  work,  and  was 
accounted  wonderfully  fine  in  it.  The  two  comedi- 
ans seem  to  have  been  well  matched,  but  Hodgkinson 
was  the  better  of  the  two.  "Jefferson's  excellence," 
writes  Dunlap,  "  was  great,  but  not  to  be  put  in  com- 
petition with  Hodgkinson's,  even  in  low  comedy." 

John  Hodgkinson,  thus  extolled,  seems  indeed,  to 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  59 

have  been  the  prince  of  all  actors  in  that  period.  He 
was  born  at  Manchester,  England,  in  1 76  7,  being  the 
son  of  an  inn-keeper  named  Meadowcraft.  In  youth 
he  was  bound  an  apprentice  to  a  trade,  but  he  ran 
away  from  home,  adopted  the  name  of  Hodgkinson, 
and  went  on  the  stage,  and  his  prodigious  talents  soon 
raised  him  to  a  position  of  importance.  He  was  early 
joined  to  Mrs.  Munden,  whom  it  is  said  he  had  alien- 
ated from  the  famous  comedian  (Joseph  Shepherd  Mun- 
den, 1 758-1832),  and  subsequently  to  Miss  Brett,  of  the 
Bath  Theatre,  whom,  however,  he  did  not  wed  till  after 
th£y  both  had  come  to  America.  That  was  in  Septem- 
ber, 1792  —  HaUam's  partner,  Henry,  having  found 
them  at  the  Bath  Theatre,  and  engaged  them  for  this 
country.  Hodgkinson's  first  American  appearance  was 
made  in  Philadelphia,  as  Bclcour,  in  "  The  West  In- 
dian," and  on  January  28th,  1793,  he  came  out  at  the 
John  Street  Theatre,  New  York,  as  Vapid,  in  "The 
Dramatist," — that  comedy,  by  Frederic  Reynolds, 
first  acted  in  1 789  at  Covent  Garden,  which  has  been 
characterized  as  the  precursor  of  "  the  numerous  family 
by  which  genteel  and  sprightly  comedians  have  been 
converted  into  speaking  harlequins."  He  was  one  of 
the  managers  of  the  John  Street  Theatre,  from  1794  to 
1798,  and  he  acted  in  the  principal  cities  all  along  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  from  Boston  to  Charleston,  and  was 
everywhere  a  favorite.  He  died  verj  suddenly  of  yel- 
low-fever, in  the  neighborhood  of  Washington,  Septem- 
ber 1 2th,  1805,  aged  thirty-eight  wars.  Hodgkinson's 
life  was  sullied  by  marry  wrong  actions.  He  was  a  lib- 
ertine, and  he  lacked  probity  of  character.     His  last 


60  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

hours  were  very  wretched.  "  He  was  in  continual  agi- 
tation," we  are  told,  "  from  pain  and  excessive  terror  of 
death,  and  presented  the  most  horrid  spectacle  that  the 
mind  can  imagine.  He  was,  as  soon  as  dead,  wrapped 
in  a  blanket  and  carried  to  the  burying-field  by  ne- 
groes." So,  prematurely  and  miserably,  a  great  light 
was  put  out. 

Bernard,  in  his  "  Early  Days  of  the  American  Stage," 
pays  this  tribute  to  the  memory  of  this  great  actor  : 
"  When  I  associate  Hodgkinson  with  Garrick  and 
Henderson  (the  first  of  whom  I  had  often  seen,  and 
the  latter  had  played  with),  I  afford  some  ground 
for  thinking  he  possessed  no  common  claims.  .  .  . 
Hodgkinson  was  a  wonder.  In  the  whole  range  of  the 
living  drama  there  was  no  variety  of  character  he  could 
not  perceive  and  embody,  from  a  Richard  or  a  Hamlet 
down  to  a  Shelty  or  a  Sharp.  To  the  abundant  mind 
of  Shakespeare  his  own  turned  as  a  moon  that  could 
catch  and  reflect  a  large  amount  of  its  radiance  ;  and  if, 
like  his  great  precursors,  it  seemed  to  have  less  of  the 
poetic  element  than  of  the  riches  of  humor,  this  was 
owing  to  association,  which,  in  the  midst  of  his  tragic 
passions,  would  intrude  other  images.  An  exclusive 
tragedian  will  always  seem  greater  by  virtue  of  his 
specialty,  by  the  singleness  of  impressions  which  are 
simply  poetic.  Hodgkinson  had  one  gift  that  en- 
larged his  variety  beyond  all  competition ;  he  was 
also  a  singer,  and  could  charm  you  in  a  burletta  after 
thrilling  you  in  a  play  :  so  that  through  every  form  of 
the  drama  he  was  qualified  to  pass,  and  it  might  be 
said  he   'exhausted   worlds,'  if  he  could  not    'invent 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  6 1 

new.'  I  doubt  if  such  a  number  and  such  greatness 
of  requisites  were  ever  before  united  in  one  mortal 
man.  Nor  were  his  physical  powers  inferior  to  his 
mental ;  he  was  tall  and  well-proportioned,  though  in- 
clining to  be  corpulent,  with  a  face  of  great  mobility, 
that  showed  the  minutest  change  of  feeling,  whilst  his 
voice,  full  and  flexible,  could  only  be  likened  to  an  in- 
strument that  his  passions  played  upon  at  pleasure." 

Jefferson  is  also  encountered  at  this  time  as  Kudrin 
in  "Count  Benyowski,"  the  Fool'm  "The  Italian  Father," 
John  in  "  False  Shame,"  and  Michelli  in  Holcroft's 
"Tale  of  Mystery."  In  the  summer  seasons  of  1800 
and  1801,  while  the  Park  Theatre  remained  closed, 
Jefferson  and  his  wife  acted  at  Joseph  Corre"s  "  Mount 
Vernon  Gardens,"  situated  on  the  spot  which  is  now 
the  north-west  corner  of  Leonard  Street  and  Broadway. 
That  theatre  was  opened  July  9th,  1S00,  with  "  Miss  in 
Her  Teens,  or  the  Medley  of  Lovers,"  and  Jefferson 
acted  Captain  Flash.  In  the  regular  seasons  at  the 
Park,  which  rarely  opened  before  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber, Jefferson's  professional  associates  were  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hodgkinson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hallam,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hogg,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Powell,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harper,  Mr. 
Tyler,  Mr.  Fox,  Mr.  Martin,  Mr.  Hallam,  Jr.,  Mr. 
Crosby,  Mrs.  Melmoth,  Mrs.  and  Miss  Brett,  Miss 
Harding,  and  Miss  Hogg.  Here,  and  afterwards  at 
the  Chestnut,  he  held  his  rank  with  the  best  of  his  com- 
petitors ;  and,  in  looking  back  to  those  days  of  the 
stage,  it  should  l>e  remembered  that  at  some  seasons  it 
would  happen  that  every  actor  in  the  company  was  a 
classical  scholar. 


62  THE  JEFFERSOA'S. 

Jefferson's  conspicuous  hits,  even  at  this  early  age, 
appear  to  have  been  made  in  old  men ;  and  an  anec- 
dote, which  he  himself  related,  attests  his  success.  A 
sympathetic  but  mistaken  old  lady  called  one  day  at  the 
John  Street  Theatre  with  a  subscription  list,  to  entreat 
the  managers  "  to  withdraw  that  poor  old  Mr.  Jefferson 
from  the  stage."  She  said  she  had  been  to  see  him 
play  in  "  The  Steward,"  *  —  as  she  had  been  told  it 
was  a  wonderful  performance,  —  and  it  had  struck  her 
that  it  would  be  only  a  Christian  charity  to  remove  so 
aged  an  actor  from  public  life,  and  to  provide  for  him. 
She  had  headed  her  list  with  a  liberal  gift,  and  she  was 
now  on  her  way  to  get  additional  subscribers,  in  order 
to  provide  a  quiet  and  respectable  home  for  the  infirm 
actor.  Cooper,  who  was  then  connected  with  the  the- 
atre, and  who  chanced  to  be  present,  told  her,  in  reply, 
that  such  a  scheme  had  long  been  in  contemplation, 
and  that  the  manager  would  gladly  co-operate  with  her 
in  any  charitable  effort  to  ameliorate  the  hardships  of 
the  aged  Jefferson's  condition.  She  was  delighted. 
Just  then  Jefferson  entered  the  room,  and  Cooper 
straightway  introduced  him  to  the  lady,  styling  her  his 
'•kind  friend  and  protector,  who  had  so  charitably  un- 
dertaken to  find  him  a  home."  Her  amazement  at 
seeing  a  slender,  handsome  young  fellow  of  six-and- 
twenty,  instead  of  a  senile  mummy,  was  excessive.  She 
stammered  out  a  word  of  explanation,  and  tore  her  sub- 

*  An  alteration  of  "  The  Deserted  Daughter."  Comedy.  By  Thomas 
Hokroft.  Covent  Garden,  1795.  Jefferson  acted  Grime  as  well  as  Item 
in  this  piece,  —  of  course,  on  different  nights.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  63 

scription  paper  in  pieces ;  and  the  scene  ended  in  a 
general  laugh. 

The  year  1803  brought  the  turning-point  in  Jeffer- 
son's life.     Theatrical  enterprise  at  this  time  was  about 
equally  divided  between  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and 
Boston.     The   Chestnut   Street   Theatre,   Philadelphia 
(which  city  had  just  ceased  (1S00)  to  be  the  capital  of 
the  Republic),  held  the  lead.    The  Park  Theatre  in  New- 
York,  under  Dunlap's   management,  was  second,  and 
the  Federal  Street  Theatre  in  Boston  —  rebuilt  after  the 
conflagration  of  1798,  and  now  managed  by  Snelling 
Powell,  brother  of  C.  S.  Powell  —  was,  for  the  first  time, 
becoming  a  successful  institution.     On  the  New  York 
stage,  Jefferson  must  have  found  himself  almost  as  much 
overshadowed  by  Hodgkinson,  who   came    and  went 
like  a  comet,  as  his  father  had  been,  on  the  London 
stage,  by  Garrick.     The  opportunity  of  transition  into 
a  new  field  of  labor  now  came  to  him,  and,  apparently, 
came  at  just  the  right  time.     Mrs.  Wignell,  left  a  widow 
by  the  sudden  and  untimely  death  of  the  great  mana- 
ger, was  obliged,  in  the  spring  of  1S03,  to  assume  the 
direction  of  the   Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  and  a  pro- 
posal was   immediately  made  to  Jefferson  to  join  the 
company  there,  taking  the  place  of  John  Bernard,  who 
had    repaired   to   Boston.      At   first   he    hesitated,  being 
reluctant   to   leave  a  community  where   he   had   been 
much  admired,  and  where  he  possessed  many  friends  ; 
and  also,  perhaps,  —  for  he  was  a  man  of  extreme  mod- 
esty,—  apprehensive  of  being  compared,  to  some  dis- 
advantage, with  his  accomplished  predecessor.     In  the 
end,  though,  he  accepted  the  Philadelphia  engagement, 


64  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

for  his  wife  as  well  as  himself;  and,  after  a  summer 
season  of  about  two  months  passed  at  Albany,*  he 
finally  quitted  the  New  York  stage.  He  was  seen  at 
the  old  Park,  though,  as  a  visitor,  in  the  spring  of  1806, 
when  he  acted,  with  splendid  ability,  the  favorite  char- 
acters of  Jacob  Gawky,  Jeremy  Diddler,  Bobby  Pen- 
dragon,  Doctor  Lenitive,  Toby  Allspice,  and  Ralph  ;  and 
he  came  again  in  1824,  when  on  August  5th,  at  the 
Chatham  Garden  Theatre,  he  took  his  farewell  of  the 
metropolis,  acting  Sir  Benjamin  Dove,  in  "  The  Broth- 
ers," and  SancJio,  in  "  Lover's  Quarrels."  The  story 
of  the  rest  of  his  life,  however,  after  the  year  1803,  is 
the  story  of  his  association  with  the  Chestnut  Street 
Theatre. 

Mrs.  Wignell,  it  should  be  said  in  passing,  was  the 
famous  actress  first  known  in  London  as  Anne  Brunton. 
This  beautiful  and  brilliant  woman,  born  at  Bristol, 
England,  in  1770,  had  made  a  splendid  hit  at  Covent 
Garden  before  she  was  sixteen  years  old,  and  she  was 
accounted  the  greatest  tragic  genius  among  women, 
since  Mrs.  Siddons.  In  1792  she  became  the  wife  of 
Robert  Merry,  author  of  the  "  Delia  Crusca  "  verse,  to 
which  Mrs.  Hannah  Cowley,  as  "  Anna  Matilda,"  had 
replied  in  congenial  fustian,  and  which  was  excoriated 
by  William  Gifford  in  his  satires  of  "The  Baviad  "  and 

*  Jefferson  in  Albany.  —  Mr.  H.  P.  Phelps,  in  his  compendi- 
ous and  useful  record  of  the  Albany  stage,  entitled  "  Players  of  a  Cen- 
tury," notes  that  Jefferson  was  with  Dunlap's  company  from  the  New 
York  Park  Theatre,  which  acted  in  that  city  in  the  Thespian  Hotel  in 
180^,  the  season  lasting  from  August  22d  till  October  27th.  He  reap- 
peared in  Albany  June  9th,  1829,  acting  Dr.  Ollapod  and  Dicky  Gossip ; 
but  this  was  in  his  decadence.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  65 

"  Mseviad."  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Merry  came  to  America  in 
1  796,  the  lady  being  then  in  her  twenty-seventh  year, 
and  under  engagement  to  Wignell  for  the  Philadelphia 
theatre.  It  is  mentioned  that  the  ship  in  which  they 
sailed  made  the  voyage  to  New  York  in  twenty-one  days. 
Wignell  himself  was  a  passenger  by  her,  and  so  was  the 
comedian  Warren,  whom  also  he  had  engaged.  All 
these  persons,  surely,  would  have  been  amazed  could 
they  have  foreseen  the  incidents  of  a  not  very  remote 
future.  Merry  died  in  1798  at  Baltimore,  and  in  1803 
his  widow  married  Wignell.  He  in  turn  died  suddenly, 
seven  weeks  after  their  marriage,  and  on  August  15th, 
1806,  the  enterprising  widow  married  Warren.  It  is 
comical  to  think  of  a  lady  as  having  actually  imported 
three  husbands  at  once.  Mrs.  Merry-Wignell- Warren 
had  a  bright  career  on  the  American  stage,  and  was 
greatly  admired  and  esteemed.  Her  death  occurred  at 
Alexandria,  Va.,  June  28th,  1808,  and  her  tomb  is  a 
conspicuous  object  in  the  old  Episcopal  churchyard  of 
that  place.  The  sister  of  this  lady,  Louisa  Brunton,  was 
seen  on  the  Loudon  stage  in  1785  as  Juliet,  and  she 
became  the  Countess  of  Craven. 

When  Jefferson  had  joined  the  Chestnut  Street  The- 
atre the  dramatic  company  was  the  strongest  in  Amer- 
ica, and  one  of  the  W>t  ever  formed.  Warren  and 
Reinagle  were  directors, —  the  former  of  affairs  in  gen- 
eral, the  Litter  of  the  department  of  music.  William 
B.  Wood,  who  had  been  to  England  for  recruits,  was 
the  actual  stage-manager.  The  company  comprised, 
all  told,  Warren,  Downie,  Jefferson,  William  Francis, 
William  Twaits,  Francis   Blissett,  W.   15.  Wood,  Cain, 


66  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Owen  Morris,  Warrell,  Durang,  Mestayer,  Melbourne, 
Fox,  Hardinge,  L'Estrange,  Usher,  Mrs.  Wignell,  Mrs. 
Oldmixon,  Mrs.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Francis,  Mrs.  Wood  (late 
Miss  Juliana  Westray),  Mrs.  Solomon,  Mrs.  Snowden, 
Mrs.  Durang,  Mrs.  Downie,  Mrs.  Morris,  and  Miss 
Hunt.  The  union  of  powers  thus  indicated  for  com- 
edy acting  was  marvellous.  The  weight,  dignity,  and 
rich  humor  with  which  Warren  could  invest  such  char- 
acters as  Old  Dornton  and  Sir  Robert  Bramble  made 
him  easily  supreme  in  this  line.  He  held  the  leader- 
ship, also,  in  the  line  of  Falstaff  and  Sir  Toby  Belch. 
Blissett's  fastidious  taste,  neat  execution,  and  beautiful 
polish,  made  him  perfection  in  parts  of  the  Dr.  Cains 
and  Bagatelle  order,  which  he  presented  as  delicate  min- 
iatures. Francis  was  finely  adapted  for  such  boisterous 
old  men  as  Sir  Sampson  Lege?id  and  Sir  Anthony  Ab- 
solute. Jefferson  —  conscientious  and  thorough,  and 
at  the  same  time  brilliant  —  ranged  from  Mercutio  to 
Dominie  Sampson,  from  Touchstone  to  Dogberry,  and 
from  Farmer  Ashfield  to  Maw  worm,  and  was  a  con- 
summate artist  in  all.  Wood  was  the  Doricourt  and 
Don  Felix.  And  Twaits,  a  wonderful  young  man,  brim- 
ful of  genius,  seemed  formed  by  nature  for  all  such 
characters  as  range  with  Dr.  Pangloss,  Lingo,  Tony 
Lumpkin,  or  Goldfinch. 

Dunlap  justly  observes  that  Twaits  was  an  admirable 
opposite  to  Jefferson,  and  his  description  of  this  prod- 
igy sharpens  the  point  of  his  apt  remark  :  "  Short  and 
thin,  yet  appearing  broad ;  muscular,  yet  meagre ;  a 
large  head,  with  stiff,  stubborn,  carroty  hair ;  long,  col- 
orless face  ;  prominent  hooked  nose  ;  projecting,  large, 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  67 

hazel  eyes  ;  thin  lips  ;  and  a  large  mouth  which  could  be 
twisted  into  a  variety  of  expression,  and  which,  com- 
bining with  his  other  features,  eminently  served  the  pur- 
pose of  the  comic  muse,  —  such  was  the  physiognomy 
of  William  Twaits." 

This  actor,  born  April  25th,  1781,  a  native  of  Bir- 
mingham, England,  died  in  New  York,  August  2  2d, 
1 8 14,  of  consumption,  precipitated  by  his  convivial 
habits.  Twaits  married  Mrs.  Villiers,  formerly  Miss 
Eliza  Westray,  and  he  was  the  manager  of  the  Rich- 
mond Theatre  at  the  time  of  the  fatal  conflagration 
which  destroyed  it,  —  and  with  it  so  many  lives, — 
December  26th,  181 1.  The  mother  of  Jefferson  the 
Fourth,  who  had  received  instruction  from  him,  and 
often  acted  with  him,  was  accustomed  to  speak  with 
enthusiasm  of  his  brilliant  mental  qualities  and  the  fine 
texture  of  his  dramatic  art.  A  three-quarter  length 
] minting  of  Twaits  as  Dr.  Pangloss  long  existed  among 
the  possessions  of  the  Jefferson  family,  but  ultimately 
disappeared. 

Prominent  among  the  accessible  sources  of  informa- 
tion respecting  the  life  of  Jefferson  after  he  settled  in 
Philadelphia  are  William  I!.  Wood's  "Personal  Recol- 
lections  of  the  Stage,"  and  Francis  Courtney  Wemyss's 
"Theatrical  Biography."  The  former  volume,  pub- 
lished in  1855,  in  its  author's  seventy-sixth  year,  cov- 
ers, discursively,  the  period  from  1797  to  1S46,  in  Phil- 
adelphia theatrical  history;  the  latter,  published  in 
1848,  in  its  author's  fifty-first  year,  traverses,  in  part, 
the  same  general  ground,  from  1822  to  1841,  though, 
altogether,  it  is  Wemyss's  Autobiography,  beginning  in 


68  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

lygj  and  ending  in  1846.  These  writers  were  asso- 
ciated for  several  years.  Wood,  who  had  long  been 
employed  in  Wignell's  company,  became  stage-manager 
of  the  Chestnut  in  1806,  and  a  partner  with  Warren  in 
the  management  in  1S09.  Wemyss  was  engaged  for 
the  Chestnut  company  by  Wood  in  1822,  and  after 
Wood*  had  retired  he  became  the  stage-manager  under 
Warren  (1827).  To  both  of  them,  accordingly,  the 
affairs  of  the  theatre  were  well  known.  They  were  not 
harmonious  spirits,  as  their  respective  memoirs  abun- 
dantly show  ;  but  they  concur  perfectly,  with  reference 
to  Jefferson,  in  admiration  for  his  character  as  a  man, 
and  for  his  great  abilities  as  an  actor. 

Jefferson's  first  appearance  under  Mrs.  Wignell's 
management  was  made  as  Don  Manuel,  in  Cibber's 
comedy  of  "  She  Would  and  She  Would  Not."  He 
was  seen  at  Baltimore  *  as  well  as  at  Philadelphia,  "  at 
once  establishing,"  says  Wood,  "a  reputation  which 
neither  time  nor  age  could  impair."  The  references 
to  him,  in  Wood  and  in  Wemyss,  are  numerous,  but 
are  mostly  unemphatic,  the  only  notable  quality  about 
them  being  their  manner,  which  always  implies  a  dis- 
tinct sense  of  the  solidity  and  high  worth  of  his  repu- 

*  The  managers  of  the  Chestnut  had  a  theatrical  circuit  which  in- 
cluded Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  they  were  accustomed  to  make 
regular,  periodical  visits  to  those  cities.  Cowell  makes  one  of  his  char- 
acteristic jibes,  in  referring  to  this  fact :  "  Baltimore  had  for  years  been 
visited  by  Warren  and  Wood  with  the  same  jog-trot  company  and  the 
same  old  pieces,  till  they  had  actually  taught  the  audience  to  stay  away." 
—  CmvelVs  Thirty  Years.  The  allusion,  of  course,  is  to  a  later  pe- 
riod. With  reference  to  Cowell,  see  ante,  p.  8,  and/cv/,  pp.  101-145.  — 
W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  69 

tation.  During  the  season  of  1808  he  was  seen  no  less 
than  ten  different  times  in  Sir  Oliver  Surface,  Charles 
Surface,  and  Crabtrce.  His  personation  of  Sir  Peter 
Teazle  was  also  highly  approved,  but  it  appears  to  have 
been  accounted  inferior  to  that  of  Warren  —  probably 
because  it  excelled  in  elegant  quaintness  and  in  senti- 
ment rather  than  in  the  more  appreciable  quality  of 
uxorious  excess  or  of  rubicund  humor.  In  1810-n 
the  performance  for  his  annual  benefit  yielded  $1,403  ; 
in  1S14,  $1,221  (at  Baltimore);  in  1815,  $1,618;  in 
1816,81,009;  in  1822,  $697.  "  The  starring  system," 
'Wood  sa\  s,  "  now  began  to  show  its  baleful  effects  on 
the  actors,  whose  benefits,  after  a  season  of  extreme 
labor,  uniformly  failed."  In  the  season  of  i8i5-c6, 
"  The  Ethiop "  and  "  Zembuca "  were  among  the 
pieces  presented  at  the  Chestnut,  and  Wood  records 
that  "  much  of  their  success  was  owing  to  the  taste  and 
skill  of  Jefferson  in  the  construction  of  intricate  stage 
machinery,  of  which  on  many  occasions  he  proved 
himself  a  perfect  master,  not  unfrequently  improving 
m  terially  the  English  models.  These  valuable  ser- 
vices  were  wholly  gratuitous,  all  remuneration  being 
uniformly  declined.  He  felt  himself  amply  repaid  for 
the  exercise  of  his  varied  talent  by  the  prosperity  of 
the  establishment  of  which  for  twenty-five  years  he 
continued  the  pride  and  ornament.  .  .  .  'The  Wood- 
man's Hut,'  with  an  effective  conflagration  scene  de- 
signed by  Jefferson,  produced  several  houses  of  $700 
each." 

One  of  the  Chestnut  casts  of  "  The  School  For  Scan- 
dal" (1822)  is  illustrative  of  the  opulence  of  its  dra- 
matic resources : — 


yo  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Sir  Peter  Teazle Warren. 

Sir  Oliver  Surface Francis. 

Charles  Surface Wood. 

Joseph  Surface H.  Wallack. 

Sir  Benjamin  Backbite Johnson. 

Crabtree Jefferson. 

Rowley Hathwell. 

Moses T.  Burke. 

Careless Darley. 

Trip John  Jefferson. 

Snake Greene. 

Lady  Teazle Mrs.  Wood 

Lady  Sneerwell Mrs.  Lafolle. 

Mrs.  Candour Mrs.  Francis. 

Maria Mrs,  H.  Wallack. 

Maid Mrs.  Greene. 

This  is  given  according  to  Wood's  record.  That  of 
Wemyss,  however,  also  gives  it,  assigning  Sir  Benjamin 
Backbite  to  Thomas  Jefferson. 

Sol  Smith,  in  his  "  Theatrical  Management  in  the 
West  and  South  for  Thirty  Years,"  mentions  one  of 
the  memorable  Chestnut  casts,  which  he  saw  there  on 
the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  Philadelphia  in  1S23.  "I 
witnessed  that  night,"  he  says  "the  performance  of 
'The  Fortress,'  and  'A  Roland  for  an  Oliver.'  The 
afterpiece  was  a  rich  treat  to  me.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise,  with  such  a  cast  as  the  following  :  — 

Sir  Mark  Chase Warren. 

Fixture Jefferson. 

Alfred  Highflyer Wemyss. 

Selbourne Darley. 

Maria Mrs.  Darley. 

Mrs.  Selbourne Mrs.  Wood. 

Mrs.  Fixture Mrs.  Jefferson." 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  Ji 

"  The  Fortress  "  referred  to  is  a  musical  drama  by 
Theodore  Edward  Hook,  first  acted  at  the  Haymarket, 
London,  in  1807. 

A  minute  account,  year  by  year,  of  Jefferson's  pro- 
fessional toils  at  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre  cannot  be 
attempted  in  this  place  ;  nor  is  there  room  here  for  a 
detailed  description  of  his  associates,  and  of  the  rise  and 
fall  of  their  theatrical  reputations,  under  the  influence 
of  a  changing  public  taste  and  of  the  stress  of  lapsing 
time.  Ample  materials,  however,  exist  in  Warren's  man- 
uscript journals  and  elsewhere  for  a  particular  history  of 
this  period  and  of  its  dramatic  luminaries.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  present  memoir  is  sufficiently  fulfilled  in  a 
general  indication  of  the  field  and  the  character  of  Jef- 
ferson's artistic  life. 

The  venerable  actor  and  manager,  Mr.  N.  M.  Ludlow, 
who  published  his  reminiscences  in  1880,  under  the 
title  of  "  Dramatic  Life  as  I  Found  it,"  glances  at  the 
character  of  Jefferson's  acting,  in  the  following  passage  : 
'•While  in  Philadelphia  (in  1826),  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  beholding  a  p<  rformance  of  'Old  Jefferson,'  as  he 
was  then  called.  ...  I  had  seen  him  in  New  York 
when  1  was  a  youth  of  seventeen,  early  in  the  year  1S12, 
when  Wood  and  Jefferson  came  to  New  York  to  per- 
form, while  Cooper  and  others  went  from  New  York  to 
Philadelphia  for  a  like  purpose.  I  was  delighted  with 
Jefferson  when  I  saw  him  then,  as  a  boy.  I  was  not  less 
so  when  I  now  beheld  him  with  professional  eyes  and 
some  experience.  The  comedy  that  1  saw  played  in 
Philadelphia  was  by  Frederic  Pillon,  and  entitled  '  He 
Would  be  a  Soldier,'    with  the  following  cast  of  charac- 


72  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

ters  :  Sir  Oliver  Oldstock,  Warren  ;  Captain  Crevett, 
George  Barrett ;  for  many  years  well  known  as  a  gen- 
teel comedian  ;  Caleb,  Jefferson ;  Charlotte,  the  beau- 
tiful Mrs.  Barrett.  All  are  now  dead.  In  Jefferson's 
acting  there  was  a  perfection  of  delineation  I  have  sel- 
dom, if  ever,  seen  in  any  other  comedian  of  his  line  of 
character ;  not  the  least  attempt  at  exaggeration  to  ob- 
tain applause,  but  a  naturalness  and  truthfulness  that 
secured  it,  without  the  appearance  of  any  extraordinary 
efforts  from  him.  The  nearest  approach  to  his  style  is 
that  of  his  grandson,  of  the  same  name." 

Upon  the  state  of  the  stage  in  America,  sixty  years 
ago,  —  viewing  it,  of  course,  as  an  institution  existing 
broadcast  and  only  prosperous  at  special  places,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  making  allowance  for  the  mental  ec- 
centricity of  the  writer,  —  much  useful  light  is  thrown  by 
a  letter  which  was  addressed  by  J.  B.  Booth,  the  trage- 
dian, to  the  comic  actor,  George  Holland,  in  1826.  A 
copy  of  this  manuscript  was  given  by  Holland  to  the 
present  biographer,  in  1870,  and  was  first  published  in 
July  of  that  year.     It  is  now  reproduced  :  — 

New  York,  Xmas  Eve,  1826. 
but  direct  y'r  letter  to  the  Theatre  Baltimore  U  States. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Messrs.  Wallack  and  Freeman,  a  few  days 
since,  shewed  me  your  letter,  with  the  inclosure  sent  last  win- 
ter to  you  at  Sheffield. 

It  is  requisite  that  I  inform  you  Theatricals  are  not  in  so 
flourishing  a  condition  in  this  Country  as  they  were  some  two 
years  ago.  There  are  four  Theatres  in  this  City  each  endeav- 
oring to  ruin  the  others,  by  foul  means  as  well  as  fair.  The  re- 
duction of  the  prices  of  admission  has  proved  (as  I  always 
anticipated  from  the  first  suggestion  of  such  a  foolish  plan) 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  73 

nearly  ruinous  to  the  Managers.  The  Publick  here  often  wit- 
ness a  Performance  in  every  respect  equal  to  what  is  pre- 
sented at  the  Theatres  Royal  D.  L.  and  C.  G.  for  these  prices. 
Half  a  Dollar  to  the  Boxes  and  a  quarter  do.  to  the  Pit  and  Gal- 
lery ! 

The  Chatham  Theatre  of  which  I  am  the  Stage-Manager,  at 
these  low  prices  [holds]  one  thousand  Dollars. —  Acting  is  sold 
too  cheap  to  the  Publick  and  the  result  will  be  a  general  theat- 
rical bankruptcy. 

Tragedians  arc  in  abundance —  Macready —  Conway — Ham- 
blin — Forrest  (now  No.  1)  Cooper,  Wallack — Maywood  and 
self  with  clivers  others  now  invest  New-York.  But  it  won't  do  ; 
a  diversion  to  the  south  must  be  made  —  or  to  Jail  three- 
fourths  of  the  Great  nun  and  Managers  must  go. 

Now  Sir,  I  will  deal  fairly  with  you.  If  you  will  pledge  your- 
self to  me  for  three  years,  and  sacredly  promise  that  no  induce- 
ment which  may  be  held  out  by  the  unprincipled  and  daring 
speculators  which  abound  in  this  country  shall  cause  you  to 
leave  me,  I  will,  for  ten  months  in  each  year,  give  you  thirty 
dollars  per  week,  and  an  annual  benefit  which  you  shall  divide 
with  me.  Beyond  this  stun  I  would  not  venture,  the  privilege 
oi  your  name  for  Benefits  Extra  to  he  allowed  me  —  and  T 
should  expect  the  terms  on  which  you  would  be  engaged  to  re- 
main secret  from  all  but  0111  31  [vi    . 

Mind  this  —  whether  you  play  in  my  Theatres  or  elsewhere 
in  the  U  States,  I  should  look  for  implicit  and  faithful  perform- 
ances of  your  duty  toward  me  or  my  colleagues!  In  case  I 
should  require  you  to  travel,  when  in  the  United  States,  which 
is  most  probable,  I  will  defrayal]  the  <  barges  of  conveyance  for 
you  and  your  luggage  —  your  living  would  not  be  included 
either  by  land  or  water — Boarding  (three  meals  a  day,)  and 
your  Bed  room,  may  he  had  in  very  respectable  houses  here  & 
in  Baltimore  at  fi  1  to  six  dollars  perweck  —  "  Lodgings 

to  let  "  are  very  scara  and  expensive,  and  the  customs  ol  this 
country,  in  this  respect,  are  essentially  different  to  those  of  the 
English. 

The  M.  S.  ami  music  of  Paul  Pry,  with  Faustus's  music  Do. 


74  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

and  Book  of  the  Pilot,  the  M.  S.  and  Do.  of  a  piece  played 
some  few  years  back  at  Sadlers  Wells,  call'd  "the  Gheber  or 
the  Fire  Worshippers,"  two  or  three  of  Liston's  new  pieces  I 
should  advise  you  to  bring.  And  particularly  the  Gheber,  for 
me.     The  Mogul  Tale  here  is  out  of  print. 

In  the  Exeter  Theatre  last  January  were  two  actresses  that  I 

should  like  to  engage.     Miss  P (not  the  Miss  P.  formerly 

of  Drury  Lane)  and  Miss  H.  If  you  will  inquire  after  them  — 
I  will  thank  you.  To  each  of  these  ladies  a  salary  of  fifteen 
dollars  a  week  I  can  venture  offering —  15  dollars  are  upward 
of  three  Guineas  and  Benefit  annually. 

Now,  Sir,  I  have  offered  to  you  and  those  Ladies  as  much  as 
I  can  in  honesty  afford  to  give,  their  travelling  expenses  to  and 
from  Theatres  in  the  United  States  (not  including  board)  I 
should  defray,  as  I  told  you  respecting  your  own  —  and  the  use 
of  their  names  for  benefits  on  Stock  nights.  —  Your  line  of  busi- 
ness would  be  exclusively  yours.  For  the  ladies  I  would  not 
make  this  guaranty — The  greatest  actress  in  the  World  I  may 
say  is  now  in  this  city  (Mrs.  D  — )  *  and  several  very  talented 
women  —  besides  I  would  endeavor  to  make  such  arrangements 

*  Mary  A.  D.  Duff  [1794-1S57].  This  was,  probably,  the  greatest 
tragic  actress  that  ever  trod  our  stage.  It  was  to  her  that  the  poet 
Moore  addressed  his  lovely  melody,  "  While  gazing  on  the  Moon's 
Light."  She  was  born  in  London ;  married  John  R.  Duff,  of  the  Dub- 
lin stage  ;  came  with  him  to  America  in  1S10  ;  and  in  subsequent  years 
had  a  career  of  astonishing  brilliancy,  —  darkened,  however,  by  much 
personal  misfortune.  She  died,  of  cancer,  at  No.  36  West  Ninth  Street, 
New  York,  and  is  buried  in  Greenwood  (Lot  8,999,  grave  805).  Her  life, 
written  by  Mr.  Ireland,  is  shortly  to  be  published.  Ludlow  describes 
her  as  "  refined,  quiet,  yet  powerful ;  not  boisterous,  yet  forcible ; 
graceful  in  all  her  motions,  and  dignified  without  stiffness."  She  had 
lived  a  Catholic  all  her  days,  but  became  a  Methodist  toward  the  last, 
after  her  marriage  with  Mr.  J.  G.  Sevier,  of  New  Orleans.  Her  death 
and  burial  were  obscure  ;  and  for  many  years  her  final  fate  remained  un- 
known,—some  of  her  relatives  being  averse  to  the  association  of  her 
name  with  the  stage,  and  desirous  of  burying  the  whole  subject  in  ob- 
livion. She  was  a  good  woman  as  well  as  a  great  actress,  and  her 
name  will  live  in  honorable  renown.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  75 

for  Miss  P —  and  Miss  H  —  as  would  not  be  very  repugnant  to 
their  ambition. 

The  reason  Mrs.  D does  not  go  to  London  is  my  strenu- 
ous advice  to  her  against  it. —  The  passages  from  Europe  I 
should  expect  repaid  to  me  out  of  the  salaries,  by  weekly  de- 
ductions of  three  dollars  each.  The  captain  of  the  ship  would 
call  upon  the  parties  or  you  might  write  to  them  on  his  visit  to 
you.  Everything  on  board  will  be  furnished  that  is  requisite  for 
comfort,  and  the  expenses  I  will  settle  for  here  previous  to  start- 
ing Mind  the  ship  you  would  come  over  in  is  one  expressly 
bargained  for,  and  will  bring  you  where  I  shall  (if  living)  be 
ready  to  welcome  you  — 

Let  me  recomend  you  to  Economy  —  see  what  a  number  of 
our  brethren  are  reduced  to  Indigence  by  their  obstinate  Van- 
ity —  I  have  here  Mr.  D  —  who  was  once  in  London  the  rival  of 
Elliston,  and  is  now  a  better  actor  —  approaching  the  age  of 
sixty,  and  not  a  dollar  put  by  for  a  rainy  day  —  too  proud  to  ac- 
cept a  salary  of  twenty  dollars  per  week  in  a  regular  engage- 
ment—  he  stars  and  starves.  Many  have  been  deceived  and 
misled  in  their  calculations  in  coming  to  this  country  —  some 
have  cut  their  throats  &c  from  disappointment  —  Mrs.  Romer 
(once  of  the  Surrey)  Mrs.  Alsop  Mr.  Entwistle  —  Kirby  the 
Clown  — are  all  on  the  felo  de  se  list  — with  others  I  now 
et  — 

Thi.  temptations  to  Drunkenness  here  are  too  common  and 
too  powerful  for  many  weak  beings  who  construe  the  approval 
of  a  boisterous  1  irele  of  intoxicated  fools  as  the  climax  of  every- 
thing desirable  in  their  profession  —  What  do  they  find  it,  when 
a  weakened  shattered  fraim,  with  loss  oi  memory  and  often  n  .1 
son,  are  the  results  —  The  hangers  on  —  drop  astern  — and  the 
poor  wreck  drives  down  the  Gulf  di  spisi  d  or  pitied,  and  totally 
deserted. 

If  you  choose  accepting  my  offer — get  for  me  those  ladies. 
Sims  1  an  pi  rhaps  tell  you  where  the)  are,  and  I  will  on  the  first 
occasion  send  for  you  and  them,  with  the  artii  ment 

to  he  signed  in    London   and   legally  ratified   on   vour  arrival   in 
America  —  recollect  this  —  the    Passages   in   Summer,  owing  to 


j6  THE  JEFFEfiSONS. 

the  calms  are  longer  in  performing,  but  they  are  much  safer,  and 

the  Newfoundland  Bank  is  an  ugly  place  to  cross  in  Winter, 

though  it  is  often  done,  yet  still  it  is  a  great  risk. 

The   Crisis  which  left  London  Docks,  last  January  with  all 

her  passengers  after  being  out  for  68  days,  and  being  spoken  to 

on  the  banks  by  another  vessel  —  is  not  yet  come  or  will  she 

ever  —  The  icebergs  no  doubt  struck  her,  as  they  have  many  — 

and  the  last  farewell  was  echoed  by  the  waves. — 

Write  to  me  soon  and  glean  the  information  I  ask  for  — 

The  letter  bag  for  United  States  vessels  —  from  London  is 

kept  at  the  North  American  Coffee  House  near  the  Bank  of 

England. 

Yours  truly, 

Booth. 

Macready  came  to  Philadelphia  in  the  season  of 
1826-27,  to  act  at  the  Chestnut,  and  on  the  day  of 
his  arrival  was  entertained  at  dinner,  by  the  manager, 
Wood,  — Jefferson  being  one  of  the  guests.  The  next 
morning  a  rehearsal  of  "  Macbeth  "  occurred,  and  Jef- 
ferson, who  was  lame  with  gout,  appeared  with  a  cane 
in  his  hand.  This  was  an  infraction  of  the  well-known 
rule,  but  it  was  understood  in  the  company  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  was  ill,  and  therefore  the  breach  of  stage  eti- 
quette was  not  regarded.  The  comedian  was  to  enact 
the  First  Witch.  Macready  immediately  observed  the 
cane,  and  with  his  customary  arrogance  determined  to 
assert  himself.  "  Tell  that  person,"  he  said,  "  to  put 
down  his  cane."  The  prompter,  thus  commanded,  de- 
livered his  message.  "  Tell  Mr.  Macready,"  said  Jef- 
ferson, "  that  I  shall  not  act  with  him  during  his  en- 
gagement "  ;  and  he  left  the  stage.  "  Mr.  Macready 
had  a  right,"  he  afterwards  remarked,  "  to  object  to  the 
carrying  of  a  cane,  at  rehearsal ;  but  it  was  obvious  to 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  JJ 

me  that  this  was  not  his  point.  He  chose  to  disregard 
the  fact  that  we  were,  and  had  met  as,  social  equals,  and 
to  omit  the  civility  of  a  word  of  inquiry  which  would  have 
procured  immediate  explanation.  His  purpose  was  to 
overbear  and  humiliate  me,  so  as  to  discipline  and  sub- 
jugate the  rest  of  the  company.  It  was  a  rude  exer- 
cise of  authority,  and  its  manner  was  impertinent." 

The  company  at  the  Chestnut  this  season  (which 
opened  December  4th,  1826,  with  "The  Stranger,") 
included  Jefferson,  Warren,  Wood,  Wemyss,  Cowell, 
John  Jefferson,  Porter,  W.  Forrest,  Heyl,  Singleton, 
M'eer,  Jones,  Wheatley,  Webb,  Darley,  Hallam,  Green, 
Bignall,  Hosack,  Parker,  Murray,  Garner,  Howard, 
Klett,  Mrs.  Wood,  Mrs.  Jefferson,  Mrs.  Anderson, 
Mrs.  Francis,  Mrs.  J.  Jefferson,  Mrs.  Greene,  Mrs. 
Darley,  Mrs.  Cowell,  Mrs.  Meer,  Mrs.  Murray,  and  the 
Misses  Hathwell. 

Among  the  contemporary  opinions  of  Jefferson  that 
should  be  cited  is  that  of  John  P.  Kennedy,  the  novel- 
ist, author  of  "  Horse-shoe  Robinson,"  etc.,  who  wrote 
of  this  great  actor  as  follows  :  "He  played  everything 
that  was  comic,  and  always  made  people  laugh  until 
the  tears  came  in  their  eyes.  ...  1  don't  believe  he 
ever  saw  the  world  doing  anything  else.  Whomsoever 
he  looked  at  laughed.  Before  he  came  through  the 
side  si  enes,  when  he  was  about  to  enter,  lie  would  pro- 
nounce the  first  words  of  his  part,  to  herald  his  appear- 
ance, and  instantly  the  whole  audience  set  up  a  shout. 
It  was  only  the  sound  of  his  voice.  He  had  a  patent 
right  to  shake  the  world's  diaphragm,  which  seemed  to 
be  infallible.      When   he  acted,   families  all  went  to- 


78  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

gether,  old  and  young.  Smiles  were  on  every  face  ;  the 
town  was  happy." 

"In  low  or  eccentric  comedy,"  says  Ireland,  "he 
has  rarely  been  equalled ;  yet  his  success  in  other  lines 
was  very  great." 

In  the  same  vein  wrote  the  poet,  N.  P.  Willis  :  "  In 
the  days  of '  Salmagundi,'  in  the  days  when  the  leaders 
of  intellect  and  of  society  were  frequenters  of  our  thea- 
tres, flourished  Jefferson  (the  Second)  ;  and  there  are 
some  yet  living  who  will  speak  to  us  with  all  the  fond- 
ness of  early  recollections,  connected  with  the  fresh- 
ness of  life,  of  one  who  now  lies  mouldering  beneath 
the  sod." 

These  tributes  are  examples  of  the  general  testimony 
of  his  time,  with  reference  to  Jefferson  the  Second.  He 
was  a  man  of  original  mind,  studious  habits,  fine  tem- 
perament, natural  dignity,  and  great  charm  of  charac- 
ter, and  his  life  was  free  from  contention,  acrimony, 
and  reproach.  How  full  it  was  of  labor,  and  what  wide 
versatility  of  shining  intellectual  power  it  exemplified, 
may,  perhaps,  be  suggested  by  the  specification  of  some 
of  the  parts  that  he  acted.  The  list  comprises  one 
hundred  and  ninety-eight  characters —  (more  than  were 
undertaken  by  Macklin,  who  presented  but  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight,)  and  it  is  incomplete ;  but  it  is 
an  eloquent  voucher  for  the  powers  and  devoted  zeal 
of  the  actor,  and  it  may  serve  to  suggest  reflection  on 
the  quality  of  dramatic  entertainment  that  was  relished 
in  a  past  age. 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  79 

PARTS   ACTED   BY  JEFFERSON    THE  SECOND. 

Squire  Richard,  in  "  The  Provoked  Husband,  or  A  Jour- 
ney to  London."  Comedy.  By  Colley  Cibber.  Drury  Lane, 
1728. 

Tagg,  in  " The  Spoiled  Child."  Farce.  Drury  Lane,  1790. 
Attributed  to  Isaac  Bickerstaffe. 

Young  Clackett,  in  "  The  Guardian."  Comedy.  By  David 
Garrick.  Drury  Lane,  1759,  1773.  Based  on  "  La  Pupille," 
by  M.  Fagan. 

La  Gloire,  in  "  The  Surrender  of  Calais."  Play.  By  George 
Colman,  Jr.     Ilaymarkct,  1791.     Based  on  a  French  novel. 

Sebastien,  in  "The  Midnight  Hour."  Comedy.  By  Eliza- 
bc>h  Inchbald.  Covent  Garden,  1788.  From  the  French  of 
of  M.  Damaniant. 

William,  in  the  opera  of  "  Rosina."  By  Mrs.  Brooke.  Cov- 
ent Garden,  [783.     Story  of  Boaz  and  Ruth,  in  the  Bible. 

Bom  bastes  Furioso,  in  the  burlesque  tragic  opera  of  that 
name. 

Sir  Harry  Harmless,  in  "  I'll  Tell  You  What."  Comedy. 
By  Elizabeth  Inchbald.  Haymarket,  1785-86.  Colman  named 
this  piece. 

One  of  the  Philosopliers,  in  "The  Merry  Girl,  or  The  Two 
Philosophers." 

Grime,  in  "  The  Deserted  Daughter."  Comedy.  By  Thomas 
Holcroft.  Covent  Garden,  1795.  —  This  piece  was  sometimes 
acted  under  the  name  of  "  The  Steward."  —  Item,  in  this,  was 
also  one  of  Jefferson's  charact 

Don  Vincentio,  in  "A  Hold  Stroke  for  a  Husband."  Comedy. 
By  Mrs.  Hannah  Cowley.     Covent  Garden,  17 

Sir  David  Daw,  in  "The  Wheel  of  Fortune."  Comedy.  By 
Richard  Cumberland.     Drury  Lane,  1795. 

Endless,  in  "The  Young  Quaker."  Comedy.  By  John 
O'Keefe.     Haymarket,  17S3. 

Adonis,  alias  Joe  the  Shepherd,  in  "  Poor  Vulcan,  or  Gods 
upon  Earth."  Burlesque.  By  Charles  Dibdin.  Covent  Gar- 
den, 1778. 


80  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Charles  in  "  Know  Your  Own  Mind."  Comedy.  By  Arthur 
Murphy.  Covent  Garden,  1777.  The  character  of  Dash- 
would,  in  this  piece,  was  intended  to  portray  Foote,  the  actor  and 
dramatist. 

Dorilas,  in  "The  Whims  of  Galatea,  or  The  Power  of  Love." 
Jefferson  painted  the  scenery  for  this  piece,  at  the  John  Street 
Theatre,  New  York,  March,  1796. 

Edward,  in  "  The  Haunted  Tower."  Comic  Opera.  By 
James  Cobb.     Drury  Lane,  17S9. 

Papillion,  in  "The  Liar."  Comedy.  By  Samuel  Foote. 
Covent  Garden,  1762. 

Sadi,  the  Moor,  in  "  The  Mountaineers,  or  Love  and  Mad- 
ness." Play.  By  George  Colman,  Jr.  Haymarket,  1795.  Based 
on  the  episode  of  Cardenio,  in  "  Don  Quixote."  —  "  Jefferson's 
Sadi  was  universally  admired  and  applauded.  The  music  of 
the  piece  he  is  perfectly  acquainted  with,  and  his  manner 
of  delivering  the  duets,  in  conjunction  with  Mrs.  Wilmot's 
notes,  in  Agnes,  communicated  the  highest  gratification  and 
delight.  Few  theatres  can  boast  of  such  a  Sadi  or  of  such  an 
Agnes.'1'' —  The  Thespian  Monitor,  December  16th,  1809. 

Davy,  in  "  Bon  Ton."  Farce.  By  David  Garrick.  Drury 
Lane,  1775. 

Lieutenant,  in  "The  Archers, or  The  Mountaineers  of  Switzer- 
land." Opera.  By  William  Dunlap.  Called,  also,  "  William 
Tell  ;  or,  The  Archers." 

Tallboy,  in  "  The  Spanish  Barber."  Musical  Farce.  By 
George  Colman,  Sr.     Haymarket,  1777. 

Carlos,  in  "  The  Man  of  Fortitude." 

Polonius,  and  Osric,  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "  Hamlet." 
—  "  Jefferson  was  the  best  Polonius  that  ever  trod  the  American 
stage.  No  other  actor  ever  succeeded  so  well  in  combining  the 
courtier  and  the  gentleman  with  the  humorist.  He  gave 
elegance  and  dignity  to  the  character." — Old  N.  Y.  Spirit  of 
the  Times. 

Silky,  in  "  The  Road  to  Ruin."  Comedy.  By  Thomas  Hol- 
croft.     Covent  Garden,  1792. 

Clown,  in  "Harlequin's  Vagaries." — There   are  many  old 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  8 1 

plays  on  the  subject  of  Harlequin.     The  Biographia  Drama- 
tica  mentions  no  less  than  sixty  of  them. 

Witzki,  in  "Zorinski."     Drama.     By  Thomas  Morton.     Hay- 
market,  1795. 

Toby    Thatch,   in    "The    London    Hermit,    or    Rambles    in 
Dorsetshire."    Comedy.    By  John  O'Keefe.    Haymarket,  1793. 
Varland,  in  "The   West   Indian."      Comedy.     By  Richard 
Cumberland.     Drury  Lane,  177 1. 

Officer,  in  "  The  Independence  of  America."  Pantomine. 
1796. 

Touchstone,  Adam,  Le  Bean,  and  William,  in  Shakespeare's 
comedy  of  "As  You  Like  It." 

Gregory  Gubbin,  in  "  The  Battle  of  Hexham."  Drama.  By 
George  Colman,  Jr.  Music  by  Dr.  Arnold.  Haymarket,  1789. 
Story  of  Margaret,  Queen  to  Henry  VI.  befriended  by  a 
bandit. 

Dickey  Gossip,  in  "  My  Grandmother."  Farce.  By  Prince 
Hoare.     Drury  Lane,  1796. 

Leopold,  in  "The  Siege  of  Belgrade."  Comic  Opera.  By 
James  Cobb.  Music  by  Stephen  Storace.  Jefferson  painted 
scenery  for  this. 

Herbert,  in  "The  Man  of  Ten  Thousand."  Comedy.  By 
Thomas  Holcroft.     Drury  Lane,  17')'). 

Tom  Holton,  in  "Tell  Truth  and  Shame  the  Devil."  Comedy. 
By  William  Dunlap.  John  Street  Theatre,  New  York,  1797. 
Reduced  to  one  act,  and  played  at  Covent  Garden,  London, 
May  iSih,  17.).:,  for  benefit  of  Mrs.  Johnson. 

/'.■//  Ferolo  Whiskerandos,  in  "The  Critic."  Farce.  By 
Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.     Drury  Lane,  1779. 

Robert,  in  "  The  Prisoner."  Musical  Piece.  By  John  Rose. 
1792. 

Jack  Arable,  in  "  Speculation."  Comedy.  By  Frederic 
Reynolds.     Covenl  Garden,  1795. 

Osmau,  in  "The  Two  Misers."  Farce.  By  Kane  O'Hara. 
Covent  Garden,  1775. 

David  Mowbray,  in  "First  Love,  or  The  French  Emigrant." 
Comedy.     Limy   Lane,   1795.  —  Dora  Jordan   was  admirably 


82  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

good  as  Sabina  Rosni,  —  the  part  acted   in  America  by  Mrs. 
Hodgkinson. 

Michael,   in   "The   Adopted   Child."      Musical   piece.      By 
Samuel  Birch.     Drury  Lane,  1795. 

Dogberry,  and  also  Verges,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  Much 
Ado  About  Nothing," 

Sancko,  in  "Love   Makes  a  Man,  or  The   Fop's  Fortune." 
Comedy.     By  Colley  Cibber.     Drury  Lane,  1701. 

Sir  Adam  Contest,  in  "  The  Wedding  Day."     Comedy.     By 
Elizabeth  Inchbald.     Drury  Lane,  1794. 

Peter,  in  "The  Stranger."     Dunlap's  version  of  Kotzebue's 
drama. 

Nicholas  Rue,  in  "  Secrets  Worth  Knowing."     Comedy.     By 
Thomas  Morton.     Covent  Garden,  1798. 

Sir  Peter  Curious,  in  "  The  Telegraph."     Comedy.     By  John 
Dent.     Covent  Garden,  1795. 

Williams,  in  "  He 's  Much  to  Blame."    Comedy.    By  Thomas 
Holcroft.     Covent  Garden,  179S. 

Laflcur,  in  "  Sterne's  Maria,  or  The  Vintage."     Opera.     By 
William  Dunlap.     Music  by  Pellesier,  1799. 

Realize,  in  "  The  Will."     Comedy.     By  Frederic  Reynolds. 
Drury  Lane,  1797. 

Sir  Stately  Perfect,  in  "  The  Natural   Daughter."     Comedy. 
By  William  Dunlap.     1799.     New  York  Park  Theatre. 

Stephen,  in  "Every  Man  in  His  Humor."     Comedy.     By  Ben 
Jonson.     1 598. 

Count  Cassell,  in   "  Lover's  Vows."      Drama.      Adapted  by 
William  Dunlap,  from  Kotzebue.     New  York  Park,  1799. 

Jam-es,  in  "  Bourville  Castle."     Musical    Drama.     By  Rev. 
John  Blair  Linn.     1797. 

Sir  Samuel  Sheepy,  in  "The  School  for  Arrogance."  Comedy. 
By  Thomas  Holcroft.     Covent  Garden,  1791. 

Toby  Allspice,  in  "  The  Way  to  get  Married."     Comedy.     By 
Thomas  Morton.     Covent  Garden,  1796. 

Bluntly,  in   "  Next   Door   Neighbors."     Comedy.     By  Eliza- 
beth Inchbald.     Haymarket,  1791. 

Jack  Meggott,  in  "  The  Suspicious  Husband."     Comedy.     By 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  83 

Dr.  Benjamin  Iloadly.  Covent  Garden,  1747.  Garrick  was 
famously  good,  in  this  piece,  as  Ranger.  George  the  Second 
sent  the  author  one  hundred  pounds,  as  a  compliment.  Foote 
says,  of  this  part  of  Jack  Meggott :  "  The  importation  of  fopperies 
from  France  we  have  laughed  at  till  we  are  tired.  Our  author 
was  willing  to  try  whether  Italy  could  not  furnish  a  fool  as 
ridiculous  and  diverting  as  our  neighbors.  But  no  sooner  has 
Jack  Meggott  raised  our  attention  but  he  slips  through  our 
fingers  like  an  eel,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  him  till  the  last 
scene.  He  does  in  truth  survive  the  loss  of  his  monkey;  but 
he  is  never  tolerable  company  after." 

Cloten,  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "Cymbeline." 

Ralph,  in  "  Lock  and  Key."  Musical  Farce.  By  Prince 
lloare.     Covent  Garden,  1796-97. 

Plain-well,  in  "  A  Ouarter  of  An  Hour  Before  Dinner." 
Farce.     By  Rev.  John  Rose.      I  lavmarket,  1788. 

Frank,  in  "  Half  an  Hour  After  Supper."  Haymarket, 
1789. 

Tom  Seymour,  in  "  Fortune's  Fool."  Comedy.  By  Fred- 
eric Reynolds.     Covent  Garden,  1796. 

Sir  Shenkin,  in  "  Fontainebleau,  or  Our  Way  in  France." 
Comic  Opera.  By  John  O'Keefe.  Covent  Garden,  1784.  The 
sub-title  given  to  this  piece  when  it  was  acted  in  America  was 
'•  fohn  Bull  in  Paris.''  The  part  of  Sir  Shenkin  Ap  Griffin  was 
subsequently  changed,  by  the  author,  to  Squire  Tallyho. 

filimus,  in  "  The    1  loldrum."      Farce.     By  John  O'Keefe. 
nt  ( harden,  1796. 

Lord  Grizzle,  in  "  The  Life  and  Death  of  Tom  Thumb,  the 
( ireat."     Bui  [1  sque.    1785. 

Jack  Bowline,  and  al  tain  Bertram,  in  "  Fraternal  Dis- 

cord." Drama,  adapted,  from  the  German  of  Kotzebue,  by 
William  Dunlap.     John  Streel  Th<  itre,  1S00. 

Fanner  AshJiclJ,  in  "Speed  the  Plough."  Comedy.  By 
Thomas  Morton.  Covent  Garden,  1S00. —  Ireland  cites  a 
critical  opinion  on  Jefferson's  personation  of  Farmer  Askfield, 
which  is  suggestively  descriptive  of  his  quality  and  style: 
"  No  man  possessed  such  happy  requisites   foi    exhibiting  this 


84  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

character  in  the  true  colors  of  nature  as  Mr.  Jefferson.  In  the 
rustic  deportment  and  dialect,  in  the  artless  effusions  of  be- 
nignity and  undisguised  truth,  and  in  those  masterly  strokes  of 
pathos  and  simplicity  with  which  the  author  has  finished  the 
inimitable  picture,  Mr.  Jefferson  showed  uniform  excellence  > 
and,  as,  in  the  humorous  parts,  his  comic  powers  produced  their 
customary  effect,  so,  in  the  serious  overflowings  of  the  honest 
farmer's  nature,  the  mellow,  deep,  impressive  tones  of  the  actor's 
voice  vibrated  to  the  heart,  and  produced  the  most  intense  and 
exquisite  sensations."  —  Mirror  of  Taste,  Vol.  I.  page  75. 

Lord  Listless,  in  "  The  East  Indian."  Comedy.  By  M.  G. 
Lewis.     Drury  Lane,  1799. 

Launcelot  Gobbo,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  The  Merchant 
of  Venice." 

Pero,  in  "  The  Spanish  Castle,  or  the  Knight  of  Guadalquiver." 
Musical  Drama.  By  William  Dunlap.  Music  by  Hewitt. 
1S00. 

Memno,  in  "  Abaellino."  Drama,  by  William  Dunlap,  from 
the  German  of  Zsokke. 

Lackbrain,  in  "  Life."  Comedy.  By  Frederic  Reynolds. 
Covent  Garden,  1801. 

Kourakim,  in  "  The  Captive  of  Spilsberg."  Drama.  By 
Prince  Hoare.     Drury  Lane,  1799. 

Hans  Molkin,  in  "  The  Wild  Goose  Chase."  Translated  by 
William  Dunlap. 

Young  Scharfeneck,  in  "  The  Force  of  Calumny."  Drama. 
Adapted  from  the  German,  by  William  Dunlap. 

Sambo,  in  "  Laugh  When  You  Can."  Comedy.  By  Frederic 
Reynolds.     Covent  Garden,  1799. 

Diego,  in  "  The  Virgin  of  the  Sun."  Drama.  Translated 
from  Kotzebue.  Jefferson  also  acted,  later,  Orozembo,  in 
"  Pizarro,  or  the  Death  of  Rolla,"  —  another  version  of  the 
same  piece. 

Conrad,  in  "  The  Stranger's  Birthday,"  a  sequel  to  Kotzebue's 
play  of  "  The  Stranger." 

Ferrett,  in  "  The  Horse  and  the  Widow."  Farce.  Altered 
from  the  German  of  Kotzebue,  by  Thomas  Dibdin.  Covent 
Garden,  1799. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  85 

Sir  Matthew  Maxim,  in  "  Five  Thousand  A  Year."  Comedy. 
By  Thomas  Dibdin.     Covent  Garden,  1799. 

Jack  Acorn,  in  "  Columbia's  Daughters."  Drama.  By  Mrs. 
Susanna  Rowson,  Author  of  "The  Female  Patriot,"  " Slaves 
in  Algiers,"  "  Charlotte  Temple,"  "  Americans  in  England,"  and 
other  pieces.  — 1800. 

Sir  William  Hoioe,  in  "Bunker  Hill,  or  The  Death  of  War- 
ren."   Drama.     By  John  D.  Burke,  1797. 

Samuel,  in  "  The  Indians  in  England,  or  The  Nabob  of 
Mysore."  Drama.  Adapted  by  William  Dunlap,  from 
Kotzebue. 

Stephana,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  The  Tempest." 

Solely,  in  "  The  School  for  Soldiers."  Play,  from  the  French, 
by  William  Dunlap. 

Zekiel  Homespun,  in  "The  Heir  at  Law."  Comedy.  By  George 
Coleman,  Jr.     Haymarket,  1797. 

Jew,  in  "  Self-immolation,  or  Family  Distress."  Drama. 
Adapted,  from  Kotzebue,  by  William  Dunlap. 

Some  of  the  old-fashioned,  once  popular,  but  now  faded  and 
forgotten  melo-dramas  rejoiced  in  wonderful  titles.  Sol  Smith 
once  produced  a  piece  entitled  "  The  Hunter  of  the  Alps,  or 
The  Runaway  Horse  that  Threw  His  Rider  in  the  Forest  of 
Savoy."  And  there  is  in  print  a  remarkable  play,  called  "The 
Lonely  Man  of  the  Ocean,  or  The  Night  Before  The  Bridal,  with 
the  Terrors  of  the  Yellow  Admiral  and  the  Perils  of  the  Battle 
and  the  breeze." 

John,  in  "  False  Shame."  Drama.  Adapted  from  the 
German,  by  William  Dunlap. 

Louis,  in  "The  Robbery."  Drama  by  Monvcl.  Translated 
by  William  I  Hmlap. 

Toby,  in  "The  Wandering  Jew,  or  Love's  Masquerade." 
Comedy.     By  Andrew   Franklin.     Drury  Lane,  1797. 

Cloddy,  in  "The  Mysteries  of  the  Castle."  By  Miles  Peter 
Andrews.     Covent  Garden,  1795. 

Motley,  in  "The  Castle  Spectre."  Drama.  By  Matthew 
Gregory  Lewis.  Drury  Lane,  179S.  —  "A  story  has  been  told 
that  about  the  end  of  the  season  (this  piece  having  proved  very 


86  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

successful),  Mr.  Sheridan  and  the  author  had  a  dispute,  in  the 
green-room  ;  when  the  latter  offered,  in  confirmation  of  his  argu- 
ments, to  bet  all  the  money  which  'The  Castle  Spectre'  had 
brought,  that  he  was  right.  '  No,'  said  Sheridan  :  '  I  cannot  af- 
ford to  bet  all  it  has  brought;  but  I  '11  tell  you  what  I  '11  do  — 
I  '11  bet  you  all  it  is  worth.'  "  —  Biographia  Dramatica. 

Paulo, in  "  The  Italian  Monk."  Drama.  By  James  Boaden. 
1797.     Founded  on  Mrs.  Radcliffe's  novel,  of  that  name. 

Hurry,  in  "  The  Maid  of  the  Oaks."  Farce.  By  Gen.  John 
Burgoyne.  Drury  Lane,  1774.  Covent  Garden,  with  Mrs. 
Abington  in  it,  1782.— '■  This  author  was  the  pretentious  British 
commander  who  capitulated  to  General  Gates,  at  Saratoga, 
in    1777,  —  prompting  Sheridan's  couplet: 

"  Burgoyne  defeated  —  oh,  ye  Fates, 
Could  not  this  Samson  carry  Gates !  " 

Kudrin,  in  "  Count  Benyowski."  Drama.  By  William  Dun- 
lap.     Park,  1799. 

Fool,  in  "  The  Italian  Father."  Drama.  By  William  Dunlap. 
Park,  1799. 

Marshal  Ingelheim,  in  "  The  Harper's  Daughter,  or  Love  and 
Ambition."  Called,  also,  "  The  Minister."  Drama.  Adapted 
by  M.  G.  Lewis,  from  "  Love  and  Intrigue,"  by  Schiller. 

Bribon,  in  "  Columbus." 

Jack  Stocks,  in  "  The  Lottery."  Farce.  By  Henry  Fielding. 
Drury  Lane,  1731. 

Don  Guzman,  in  "  The  Follies  of  A  Day."  Comedy.  By 
Thomas  Holcroft.  Covent  Garden,  1785.  Adapted  from  "La 
Folle  Journee,"  by  Beaumarchais. 

Humphrey  Grizzle,  and  also  Frank,  in  "  The  Three  and  the 
Deuce."     Comedy.     By  Prince  Hoare.     Haymarket,  1795. 

This  piece  is  suggestive  of  both  the  "  Comedy  of  Errors  "  and 
"  She  Stoops  to  Conquer."  The  comic  effect  is  obtained  by 
means  of  complications  arising  out  of  the  bewildering  resem- 
blance between  three  brothers,  —  each  being  mistaken  for 
another,  and  all  displayed  at  cross  purposes  with  the  rest  of  the 
characters.  Frank  is  a  rustic,  of  the  Zekiel Homespun  stripe; 
Humphrey   Grizzle  an    opinionated,  cranky,  eccentric  old  ser- 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  87 

vant,  whose  perplexity  affords  much  amusement.  The  three 
brothers,  —  Percival,  Peregrine,  and  Pertinax  Single, — who 
"  raise  the  Deuce  "  by  being  exactly  alike  in  appearance  but 
very  diverse  in  character  and  conduct,  are  acted  by  one  and 
the  same  person. 

Scaramouch,  in  "  Don  Juan." 

Bras  De  Fer,  in  Tekeli,  or  "  The  Siege  of  Montgatz."  Melo- 
drama.    By  T.  H.  Hook.    Drury  Lane,  1S06. 

Justice  Greedy,  in  "  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts."  Comedy. 
By  Philip  Massinger.   Acted  at  the  Phoenix  in  Drury  Lane,  1633. 

Jargon,  in  "The  Bulse  of  Diamonds,  or  What  is  She?" 
[Dr.  Doddrell?] 

Alibi,  in  "  The  Toy,  or  The  Lie  of  the  Day."  Comedy.  By 
John  O'Keefc.     Covcnt  Garden,  1789. 

Tom  Starch,  in  "  The  Wise  Man  of  the  East."  Play.  By 
Elizabeth  Inchbald.  Adapted  from  Kotzebue.  Covent  Garden. 
1799. 

Sir  Peter  Teazle,  Sir  Oliver  Surface,  Charles  Surface,  Crabtree, 
and  Muses,  in  "  The  School  For  Scandal."  Comedy.  By 
Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan.  First  acted  May  8th,  1777,  at 
Drury  Lane. 

Sheepface,  in  "The  Village  Lawyer."  Farce.  From  the 
French,  1795. 

Block,  in  "Where  js  lie?"   Farce.   By  William  Dunlap.   1801. 

Dubois  in  "  The  Abbe  de  L'Epee,  or  Deaf  and  Dumb."    1801. 

Guillot,  in  "  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion."  Historical  Play.  By 
Gen.  John  Burgoyne.     Drury  Lane,  1786. 

Sir  Robert  Bramble,  and  also  Dr.  Ollapod,  in  "The  Poor  Gentle- 
man." Comedy.    By  George  Colman,  Jr.    Covent  Garden,  1802. 
;-  Postolnt,  in  "  Folly  As  It  Flies."    Comedy.    By  Frederic 
Reynolds.     Covent  Garden,  1802. 

Lodowick,  in  "  A  del  morn,  the  Outlaw."  Drama.  By  M.  G. 
Lewis.     Drury  Lane,  1801. 

Ibrahim,  in  "Blue  Beard,  or  Female  Curiosity."  Musical 
Extravaganza     By  George  Colman,  Jr.     Drury  Lane,  1798. 

Mulcy  Hassan,  in  "  Fiesco."  Drama.  From  the  German  of 
Schiller.     1796,  1798. 


88  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

Dominique,  in  the  opera  of  "  Paul  and  Virginia."  By  James 
Cobb.    Music  by  Mazzinghi  and  Reeve.    Covent  Garden,  1800. 

Mendoza,  in  "The  Duenna."  Comic  Opera.  By  R.  B.  Sheri- 
dan.    Covent  Garden,  1775. 

Colin,  in  "The  Irish  Mimic,  or  Blunders  at  Brighton." 
Musical  Farce.     By  John  O'Keefe.     Covent  Garden,  1795. 

Nicholas,  in  "  The  Follies  of  Fashion."  Comedy.  By  Leonard 
McNally.  Original  title  "  Fashionable  Levities."  Covent 
Garden,  1785. 

Francis,  in  Shakespeare's  play  of  "  King  Henry  IV." 

Cadi,  in  "  II  Bondocani."  Comic  Opera.  By  Thomas  Dib- 
din,  1S01.  Music  by  Boieldieu.  Afterwards  played  as  "The 
Caliph  of  Bagdad." 

Skarpset,  in  "  The  Votary  of  Wealth."  Comedy.  By  J.  G. 
Holman.     Covent  Garden,  1799. 

Mawworm,  in  "  The  Hypocrite."  Comedy.  By  Isaac  Bicker- 
staffe.  Drury  Lane,  176S.  An  alteration  of  Gibber's  "  The 
Non-Juror." 

Bobby  Pendragon,  in  "  Which  Is  the  Man?"  Comedy.  By 
Mrs.  Hannah  Cowley.     Covent  Garden,  17S3. 

Lord  Foppington,  in  "  The  Relapse."  Comedy.  By  Sir  John 
Vanbrugh.  Drury  Lane,  1708.  Altered,  and  named  "  The 
Country  Heiress." 

Gil  Bias,  in  a  pantomime  play  entitled  "  Gil  Bias." 

John,  in  a  farce  called  "  The  Wheel  of  Truth,"  by  James 
Fennell,  the  actor.     Park,  1S03. 

Ephraim,  in  "The  School  for  Prejudice."  Comedy.  By 
Thomas  Dibdin.  Covent  Garden,  1801.  An  enlargement  of 
its  author's  previous  comedy  of  "  Liberal  Opinions." 

Thomas,  in  "  The  Good  Neighbor."     Farce. 

Precipe  Rebate,  in  "  Retaliation."  Farce.  By  Leonard  Mc- 
Nally.    Covent  Garden,  1782. 

Michelli,  in  "  A  Tale  of  Mystery."  Melodrama.  By  Thomas 
Holcroft.  Covent  Garden,  1802.  Jefferson  also  acted  Francisco, 
in  this  piece. 

Carlos,  in  "  The  Blind  Boy."  An  alteration,  made  by  William 
Dunlap,  of  Kotzebue's  "  The  Epigram." 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOXD.  89 

Quillet,  in  "  Hear  Both  Sides."  Comedy.  By  Thomas  Hol- 
croft.     Drury  Lane,  1803. 

Don  Manuel,  in  "  She  Would  and  She  Would  Not."  Comedy. 
By  Colley  Gibber.     Drury  Lane,  1703. 

Robert  Grange,  in  "Delays  and  Blunders."  Comedy.  By 
Frederic  Reynolds.     Covent  Garden,  1803. 

John  Lump,  in  "The  Review,  or  The  Wags  of  Windsor." 
Musical  Farce.     By  George  Colman,  Jr.     Haymarket,  1S08. 

Lord  Dartford,  in  "The  Fair  Fugitive,  or  He  Forgot  Him- 
self." This  was  "  The  Fair  Fugitives,"  a  musical  extravaganza, 
by  Miss  Anna  Maria  Porter.  Music  by  Dr.  Busby.  Acted  at 
Covent  Garden,  1S03. 

Matthew.  Mug,  in  "A  House  To  Be  Sold."  Musical  piece. 
Bj  fames  Cobb.  Music  by  Kelly.  Drury  Lane,  1802.  Altered 
and  enlarged  from  a  French  piece,  entitled  "  Maison  a  Vendre." 

Sir  Benjamin  Dove,  in  "  The  Brothers."  Comedy.  By  Rich- 
ard Cumberland.     Covent  Garden,  1769. 

Jeremy  Diddler,  in  "  Raising  the  Wind."  Farce.  By  James 
Kenney.  Covent  Garden.  1803.  —  Lewis  was  the  original 
Jeremy.  —  "  Diddler  has  been  attempted  by  many  celebrated 
comedians,  but  by  none  so  successfully  as  by  Jefferson,  who 
exhibits  the  various  dispositions  of  Jeremy  with  admirable 
effect." —  The  Tliespian  Monitor. 

Solus,  in  "  Every  One  Has  His  Fault."  Comedy.  By  Eliza- 
beth [nchbald.     Covent  Garden,  T793. 

Fixture,  in  "A  Roland  for  an  Oliver."     Comedy,  1S19. 

Jacques,  and  also  Rolando,  in  "  The  Honeymoon."  Comedv. 
By  John  Tobin.     Drury  Lane,  1S05. 

Dromio  of  ,  in   Shakespeare's  "Comedy  of  Errors." 

Cowell  was  the  Other  Dromio. 

Roderigo,  m  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "Othello." 

Mercutio,  and  also  Peter,  in  "  Romeo  and  Juliet."  The 
former  part  he  acted  for  the  first  time,  at  the  Chestnut  Street 
Theatre,  Philadelphia,  in  the  season  of  1X15-16. 

Timothy  Quaint,  in  "The  Soldier's  Daughter."  Comedy. 
By  Andrew  Cherry.  Drury  Lane,  1S04.  —  Edwin  Forrest,  in 
his  youth,  often  acted  Malfort,\x\  this  piece.     "The  Soldier's 


90  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Daughter "  was  revived  in  Boston,  at  the  Globe  Theatre,  in 
June,  1872,  but  failed. 

Drugget,  in  "  Three  Weeks  After  Marriage."  Comedy.  By 
Arthur  Murphy.     Co  vent  Garden,  1776. 

Apollo  Belvi,  and  also  Buskin,  in  "  Killing  No  Murder." 
Farce.  By  Theodore  E.  Hook.  Haymarket,  1S09.  The  elder 
Mathews  was  the  original  Buskin. 

Doctor  Last,  in  "The  Devil  upon  Two  Sticks."  Comedy. 
By  Samuel  Foote.  Haymarket,  176S.  The  original  Doctor 
Last  was  Weston.     Foote  acted  the  Devil. 

Tim  Tartlet,  in  "The  First  Floor."  Farce.  By  James  Cobb. 
Drury  Lane,  1787. 

Carlos,  in  "  The  Man  of  Fortitude."  Drama,  1797.  Alleged 
author,  Hodgkinson  ;  but  Mr.  Dunlap  claimed  the  piece  as  his 
own,  under  the  name  of  "  The  Knight's  Adventure,"  and  said 
that  Hodgkinson  made  use  of  his  manuscript. 

Jasper  Lunge,  in  "  A  Good  Spec  —  Land  in  the  Moon." 
Farce,  1797. 

Ennui,  in  "  The  Dramatist."  Comedy.  By  Frederic  Rey- 
nolds.    Covent  Garden,  1789. 

Frank  Oatland,  in  "A  Cure  for  the  Heartache."  Comedy. 
By  Thomas  Morton.  Covent  Garden,  1797.  This  was  among 
Jefferson's  best  performances. 

Jacob  Gawky,  in  "A  Chapter  of  Accidents."  Comedy.  By 
Miss  Sophia  Lee.     Haymarket,  1780. 

Kit  Cosey,  in  "  Town  and  Country."  By  Thomas  Morton. 
Covent  Garden,  1807. 

Tristram  Fickle,  in  "  The  Weathercock."  Farce.  By  J.  T. 
Allingham.  Drury  Lane,  1806.  —  "  Jefferson's  Tristram,  lively, 
active,  and  productive  of  real  merriment." —  Thespian  Monitor, 
December  13th,  1809. 

Stave,  in  "  The  Shipwreck."  Comic  Opera.  By  S.  J.  Arnold. 
Drury  Lane,  1796. 

Sampson  Rawbold,  in  "The  Iron  Chest."  Tragedy.  By 
George  Colman,  Jr.     Drury  Lane,  1796. 

Bob  Acres,  in  "The  Rivals."  Comedy.  By  Richard  Brinsley 
Sheridan.     Covent  Garden,  1775. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  91 

Sir  Owen  Ap  Griffith,  in  "The  Welsh  Girl."     Vaudeville. 

Old  Rapid,  in  "A  Cure  for  the  Heartache."  Comedy.  By 
Thomas  Morton.     Covent  Garden,  1797. 

Captain  Flash,  in  "  Miss  in  her  Teens."  Farce.  By  David 
Garrick.     Covent  Garden,  1747. 

Dr.  Lenitive,  in  "  The  Prize  ;  or  2-5-3-8." 

Dominic  Sampson,  in  "  Guy  Mannnering."  Musical  Play. 
By  Daniel  Terry.     Covent  Garden,  1816. 

Caleb,  in  "He  would  be  a  Soldier."  Comedy.  By  Fred- 
erick Pillon.     Covent  Garden,  17S6. 

Dr.  Smugface,  in  "  A  Budget  of  Blunders."  Farce.  By 
Prince  Hoare.     Covent  Garden,  tSio. 

One  of  the  illustrations  in  this  memoir  presents  Mr.  Jefferson 
as  Dr.  Smugface,  and  Mr.  Blissett,  as  Dr.  Dablanconr,  in  this 
farcei  Mr.  Jefferson  wore  a  false  nose,  in  Dr.  Smugface,  skil- 
fully made  of  wax,  which  increased  the  comicality  of  his  aspect, 
in  this  irate  character. 

Francis  Blissett  was  one  of  the  most  charming  actors  of  this 
delightful  dramatic  period.  He  was  born  in  London,  about 
the  year  1773,  and  spent  his  early  days  at  Bath.  I  lis  father 
was  a  favorite  comic  actor,  and  the  son  early  exhibited  dramatic 
talent.  He  was  taught  music,  and  at  first  destined  to  that 
pin  suit;  but,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  made  such  a  successful 
debut — appearing  as  Dr.  Last,  on  the  occasion  of  his  father's 
benefit  —  that  it  was  thought  best  to  devote  him  to  the  stage. 
He  came  to  America,  in  1793,  and  joined  Wignell's  company, 
at  the  Philadelphia  Theatre  (the  Chestnut),  and  with  that  troupe 
he  was  connected  for  twenty-eight  years.  In  1821,  having,  by 
the  death  of  his  fathi  r,  1  ome  into  possession  of  a  considerable 
inheritance,  he  withdrew  from  public  life  and  from  America, 
and  established  his  residence  in  the  island  of  Guernsey,  where 
he  died,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  Il<-  wasa  thoughtful  man, 
of  melanchol)  temperament  and  reserved  demeanor,  fond  of 
books  and  of  music,  and  a  skilful  player  of  the  violin.  His 
style  of  acting  was  marked  by  exquisite  delicacy  and  finish. 
I  le  preferred  to  act  little  parts  and  make  them  perfect,  rather 
than   to  exercise   his  powers  upon  those  of   magnitude.     His 


92  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

humor  was  dry  and  quaint.  He  could  speak  with  a  capital 
Irish  brogue,  or  with  a  French  or  a  German  accent.  Among 
the  parts  in  which  he  was  excellent  are  Dr.  Cains,  the  Mock 
Duke,  in  "The  Honeymoon,"  the  Clown,  in  "As  You  Like  It," 
Crabtree,  David,  in  "  The  Rivals,"  Crack,  Verges,  Dr.  Dablan- 
conr,  Sheep/ace,  Dennis  Brulgruddery,  and  the  First  Grave- 
digger.  He  was  averse  to  society,  seldom  spoke,  and  was 
observed  to  be  usually  sad  and  distant  in  manner.  It  is  said 
he  was  a  natural  child,  and  this  circumstance  bred  in  him  an 
habitual  reserve.  He  was  benevolent,  but  by  stealth,  and 
shunned  ostentation.  He  cultivated  but  few  friendships,  yet 
was  greatly  respected  and  liked.  No  character  of  the  entire 
group  is  more  interesting  than  that  of  Blissett. 

Nipperkin,  in  "  The  Sprigs  of  Laurel."  Comic  Opera.  By 
John  O'Keefe.  Covent  Garden,  1793.  Afterwards  acted  under 
the  title  of  "  The  Rival  Soldiers." 

Captain  Copp,  in  "  Charles  the  Second."  Comedy.  By  John 
Howard  Payne. 

La  F/eicr,  in  "  Animal  Magnetism."  Farce.  By  Elizabeth 
Inchbald.     Covent  Garden,  1788.     Of  French  Origin. 

Job  Thoritbury,  in  "John  Bull."  Comedy.  By  George  Col- 
man,  Jr.     Covent  Garden,  1S05. 

Sir  Hugh  Evans,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor." 

Gregory,  in  "  The  Mock  Doctor,  or  the  Dumb  Lady  Cured." 
Farce.     By  Henry  Fielding.     Drury  Lane,  1732. 

This  piece  was  taken  from  "  Le  Medecin  malgre  Lui,"  by 
Moliere,  —  which  work  was  originally  named  "  Le  Fagotier." 
The  story  is  that  the  wife  of  a  wood-cutter,  in  order  to  be  re- 
venged on  her  husband,  for  his  ill-treatment  of  her,  told  two 
strangers  that  he  was  a  learned  physician,  who  would  not, 
however,  give  his  medical  knowledge  and  care,  until  he  had 
been  soundly  thrashed;  whereupon  they  compelled  him  to 
attempt  the  cure  of  a  girl  who  had  been  feigning  dumbness  in 
order  to  avoid  an  obnoxious  marriage,  and,  ultimately,  to  assist 
in  an  elopement.  The  situations  in  "  The  Mock  Doctor  "  had 
previously   been   used,  in   "Love's   Contrivance"    (1703),   by 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  93 

Susanna  C'entlivre,  and  "The  Dumb  Lady"  (1672),  by  John 
Lacy-  The  subject  is  treated  in  an  opera  by  Gounod,  produced 
at  the  Theatre  Lyrique,  Paris,  January  15th,  185S,  and  at  the 
Princess's  Theatre,  London,  early  in  1S65.  It  is  related  that 
David  Garrick,  before  he  finally  decided  to  adopt  the  dramatic 
profession,  chose  this  play  of  "  The  Mock  Doctor,"  to  test 
his  powers.  The  particulars  of  this  incident  are  given  as 
follows  :  "  The  place  was  the  room  over  St.  John's  Gate,  Clerken- 
well.  The  stage  was  improvised,  and  suitable  decorations  were 
provided  for  the  occasion.  The  time  was  soon  after  Garrick's 
friend  and  tutor  Samuel  Johnson  had  formed  a  close  intimacy 
with  Cave,  the  printer  and  publisher  of  the  '  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine,' and  while  Garrick  was  still  in  the  wine  trade  with  his 
brother  Peter,  and  secretly  meditating  a  withdrawal  from  it,  in 
order  to  adopt  the  congenial,  but  in  the  opinion  of  his  friends 
the  disreputable,  calling  of  an  actor.  The  audience  was  com- 
posed, first  of  Cave  himself,  who,  though  not  a  man  given  to 
mirth,  or  with  an  idea  beyond  his  printing  presses,  had  been 
tickled  by  Johnson's  description  of  his  young  townsman's 
powers,  and  was  willing  to  try  the  experiment  on  his  risibility. 
Then  there  was  the  burly  lexicographer,  —  in  those  days  very 
shabby  and  seedy  indeed,  but  proudly  battling  his  way  in  the 
world,  and  not  a  little  elated  by  reflecting  on  the  figure  which 
the  boys,  who  had  enjoyed  with  him  and  Garrick  the  advantage 
of  being  flogged  and  taught  by  Mr.  Hunter  of  Litchfield,  were 
likely  to  make  in  it.  Several  of  Cave's  literary  handicraftsmen 
.vcre  doubtless  among  the  audience  :  Webb,  the  enigma  writer, 
Derrick,  the  pen-cutter,  and  '  Tobacco'  Browne,  whose  serious 
poetry  even  the  religious  Johnson  himself  confessed  he  was  un- 
able to  read  with  patience.  The  actors  who  assisted  Garrick 
were  some  <>f  Cave's  journeymen  printers,  who  had  for  the  time 
laid  aside  their  composing  sticks,  and  read  or  recited  the  parts 
allotted  to  them  as  lu-^t  they  could.  Garrick,  of  course,  played 
the  involuntary  physician  Gregory.,  as  Fielding  renamed  him  j 
and  we  have  all  read  how  Johnson,  in  his  later  years,  returning 
from  the  Mitre,  or  the  Cheshire  Cheese,  with  Boswell,  in  the 
early  morning,  would  grasp  the  .street-post  by  Temple  Gate,  and 


94  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

send  forth  a  peal  of  laughter,  which  echoed  and  re-echoed 
through  the  silent  streets,  as  he  recalled  the  irresistible  humor 
of  his  clever  friend  little  Davy."  These  associations  give  a 
literary  interest  to  Fielding's  adaptation  of  Moliere's  piece. 

First  Witch,  in  "  Macbeth." 

Dr.  Pctitqiicac,  in  "  The  Toothache."  Farce.  By  John 
Bray. 

Pedro,  in  "  Cinderella."     Pantomine. 

The  singular  and  interesting  coincidence  is  recorded 
of  Joseph  Jefferson  and  Euphemia  Fortune  that  they 
were  born  on  the  same  day  of  the  same  month  and 
year,  —  one  in  England,  the  other  in  America.  Their 
marriage  proved  fortunate  and  happy.  They  were 
blessed  with  no  less  than  nine  children  (Cowell  errone- 
ously says  thirteen),  and  the  death  of  the  husband  fol- 
lowed that  of  the  wife  within  eighteen  months.  All 
their  children,  with  two  exceptions,  adopted  the  stage. 
It  will  be  convenient  to  give  in  this  place  a  brief  sum- 
mary statement  of  the  record  of  these  descendants,  pre- 
mising that  one  of  the  children  died  in  infancy  :  — 

i.  Thomas,  the  eldest  son,  went  on  the  stage  in  his  four- 
teenth year,  rose  to  a  good  position,  and  died,  in  1824,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-seven.     Was  never  married. 

2.  Joseph.  This  was  Jefferson  the  Third  (1804-1842),  and 
his  career  is  made  the  subject  of  a  separate  chapter. 

3.  John  was  accounted  the  most  brilliant  of  this  family.  He 
was  remarkably  handsome  and  athletic.  He  received  a  careful 
education,  and  he  displayed  astonishing  and  versatile  talents. 
Had  he  lived,  and  continued  to  progress,  he  would  have  become 
a  great  actor ;  but  he  was  prematurely  broken  clown  by  convivi- 
ality, and  he  died  very  suddenly  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1831,  aged  twenty-three. 

4.  Euphemia,  the  favorite  daughter  of  Jefferson  the  Second, 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  95 

is  remembered  on  the  stage  as  correct  and  pleasing.  She  mar- 
ried William  Anderson,  —  described  by  Ludlow  as  "a  good  ac- 
tor in  heavy  characters,  tragedy  villains  and  the  like," —  but  he 
was  a  worthless  person,  and  he  embittered  her  life.  This  mar- 
riage was  a  sad  blow  to  her  father.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
dramatic  company  at  the  New  York  Park  Theatre  in  1S16,  and 
of  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  Philadelphia,  in  1817.  "  Mrs.  An- 
derson, late  Miss  Jefferson,*' says  Wood,  in  his  "  Personal  Recol- 
lections," "was  now  added  to  the  company,  and  shortly  reached 
a  high  place  in  public  favor."  She  died  in  1831,  leaving  two 
daughters,  Jane  and  Elizabeth.  —  JANE  Anderson  came  out  at 
the  Franklin  Theatre,  New  York,  August  15th,  1S36,  as  Sally  Gig- 
gle, in  "  Catching  an  Heiress."  She  has  had  a  bright  career  on  the 
stage,  and  is  a  superior  representative  of  old  women.  She  be- 
came Mrs.  G.  C.  Germon,  and  has  long  been  a  resident  of  Bal- 
timore. Miss  Ekfie  Germon,  born  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  on 
June  13th,  1840,  and  now  the  sparkling  soubrette  of  Wallack's 
Theatre,  is  her  daughter,  and  thus  a  descendant  of  Jefferson 
the  First.  The  father,  G.  C.  Germon,  the  original  Uncle  Tom, 
died  at  Chicago,  in  April,  1854,  aged  thirty-eight.  —  Elizabeth 
Anderson  came  out  at  the  Franklin  Theatre,  August  1st,  1S36, 
as  Mrs.  Nicely,  and  she  also  has  had  a  good  theatrical  career. 
This  lady  was  married,  in  1837,  to  Mr.  Jacob  Thoman,  and  sub- 
sequentlv,  as  Mrs.  Thoman,  she  became  a  favorite  in  Boston. 
She  accompanied  Mr.  Thoman  to  California,  where  she  obtained 
a  divorce  from  him;  and  afterwards  she  again  married,  becom- 
ing Mrs  SAUNDERS.  She  is  still  living.  Both  Jane  and  Eliza- 
beth Anderson  hail  played,  as  early  as  1831,  in  the  theatre  at 
Washington,  managed  by  their  uncle  Joseph  (Jefferson  the 
Third).  Elizabeth,  although  very  young,  acted  old  women.  She 
was  at  the  Walnut  Street  Theatre,  Pa.,  in  1835.  —  WILLIAM 
Anderson,  the  father  of  these  girls,  after  a  career  of  painful 
irregularity,  ending  in  indigence,  died,  in  1S69,  at  a  hospital  in 
Philadelphia.  Cowell  remarks  that  Jemmy  Bland's  answer  — 
when  adrift  in  the  words  —  to  the  question,  "  Who  is  this  Cori- 
olanus?"  describes  Anderson  exactly:  "Why,  he's  a  fellow 
who  is  always  going  about  grumbling,  and  making  everybody 
uncomfortable  " 


96  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

5.  Hester  became  Mrs.  Alexander  Mackenzie,  first  wife 
of  the  noted  actor  and  manager  of  that  name,  in  the  West. 
Mackenzie  was  a  cousin  to  Joseph  Neal,  author  of  "Charcoal 
Sketches."  Mrs.  Mackenzie  rose  to  a  good  position  as  an  ac- 
tress of  old  women.  Her  death  occurred  at  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, February  3d,  1845. 

6.  Elizabeth,  Mrs.  Chapman-Richardson-Fisher.  A  bril- 
liant and  popular  actress  at  the  New  York  Park,  in  its  great  days. 
Her  career  is  sketched  in  a  separate  chapter. 

7.  Mary  Anne.  She  became  the  wife  of  David  Ingersoll, 
a  tragedian,  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  at  St.  Louis  in  1837,  aged 
twenty-five.  She  subsequently  married  James  S.  Wright, 
for  many  years  the  prompter  at  Wallack's  Theatre.  This  lady 
was  a  member  of  the  Bowery  Theatre  company,  New  York,  in 
1834,  and  she  has  been  a  favorite  in  theatres  on  the  western 
circuit.     For  many  years,  however,  she  has  not  acted. 

8.  Jane  is  remembered  as  a  lovable  girl,  kind,  quiet,  domes- 
tic, and  devoted  to  her  family.  She  never  went  on  the  stage, 
but  died  in  girlhood,  aged  only  seventeen,  in  1831. 


Lives  that  do  not  imprint  themselves  strongly  on  the 
passing  age  are  lost  so  quickly  and  so  irretrievably  that  it 
seems  as  if  they  never  had  existed.  There  is  something 
almost  forlorn  in  the  few  slight  and  scattered  memorials 
that  remain  of  these  persons  ;  all  of  them  at  one  time 
signed  with  a  brilliant  name,  and  actuated,  no  doubt, 
by  a  high  ambition.  Thomas  Jefferson,  as  a  lad,  came 
out  at  the  Park  Theatre,  New  York,  on  May  27th,  1803, 
as  the  Boy,  in  "  The  Children  in  the  Wood,"  —  drama 
by  Thomas  Morton,  the  music  by  Dr.  Arnold,  first  acted 
at  the  London  Haymarket,  in  1793,  —  and  he  was 
seen  at  the  Chestnut,  Philadelphia,  January  1st,  1806, 
as  Cupid,  in  the  pantomime  of  "  Cinderella,"  his  father 
playing  Pedro  and  his  mother  This be ;  but  his  first  im- 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  97 

portant  effort  was  made  on  October  7th,  181 1,  in  his 
fifteenth  year.  The  play  was  "The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor."  Warren  acted  Falstaff,  Jefferson  Sir  Hugh 
Evans,  Blissett  Dr.  Cains,  Mackenzie  Ford,  and  young 
Thomas  Jefferson  came  on  as  Master  Slender.  The 
result  was  recorded  by  a  contemporary  writer,  Mr.  S. 
C.  Carpenter,  the  "  Dramatic  Censor"  of  "  The  Mirror 
of  Taste"  (Vol.  IV.,  p.  297) :  "The  chief  novelty  of 
the  night  and  on  many  accounts  a  most  pleasing  one, 
was  Mr.  Jefferson's  eldest  son,  in  Master  Slender.  .  .  . 
A  fine  boy,  and  the  son  of  one  of  the  greatest  favorites 
of  the  people  of  Philadelphia.  .  .  .  There  was  no  blind, 
undistinguishing  enthusiasm  exhibited  on  the  occasion. 
.  .  .  The  audience  chose  rather  to  reserve  their  praise 
till  it  would  do  the  youth  substantial  credit  by  being 
bestowed  only  on  desert ;  and  in  the  full  truth  of  severe 
criticism  we  declare  that  of  the  loud  applause  bestowed 
upon  the  boy  there  was  not  a  plaudit  which  he  did  not 
deserve.  From  this  juvenile  specimen  we  are  disposed 
to  believe  that  he  inherits  the  fine  natural  talents  of  his 
father." 

In  181 7  the  three  brothers,  Thomas.  John,  and  Jo- 
seph, acted  together,  in  '"Valentine  and  Orson." 

In  1821  Mr.  James  H.  Caldwell,  the  pioneer  man- 
ager of  the  Southwest,  —  after  old  man- Drake,  as  the 
actors  used  to  call  him,  and  liki  fter  the  veteran 

Ludlow,  —  had  a  good  dramatic  company  at  Peters- 
burg. Virginia,  of  which  "  Mr.  Jefferson,"  probably 
Thomas,  was  a  member.  This  troupe  included,  says 
James  Rees,  in  his  "  I  >ramatie  Authors,"  p.  5S,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hughes,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hutton,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rus- 


98  THE  JEFFERSOXS. 

sell,  Mr.  Gray,  Mr.  Ludlow,  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Cafferty, 
Mr.  Benton,  Mr.  West,  Mr.  Scholes,  Mrs.  Anderson, 
Miss  Tilden,  and  Miss  Eliza  Placide. 

The  cause  of  the  untimely  death  of  Thomas  Jefferson 
was  an  accident  which  happened  to  him  on  the  stage, 
when  he  was  doing  a  service  for  a  brother  actor.     This 
was  the  vocalist  and  comedian  John  Darley   (1780- 
1S5S),  father  of  the  distinguished  artist  Mr.  Felix  O.  C. 
Darley,  both  of  whose  parents  were  ornaments  of  the 
early  American  theatre ;   his  mother  being  Miss  Ellen 
Westray.     Darley  was   playing  Paul,  in   the  opera  of 
"Paul  and  Virginia,"  and,  feeling  averse  to  making  the 
leap  from  the  rock,  he  asked  young  Jefferson  to  make 
it  for  him.     The  youth,  who  was  playing  the  slave  Al- 
hambra,  acceded  to  this  request,   plunged  from  the 
scenic  precipice,  and  in  so  doing  broke  a  blood-vessel 
in  his  lungs.    This  injury  resulted  in  consumption  ;  and, 
after  a  lingering  illness,  he  expired  in  Philadelphia  on 
September  16th,   1824.     "He   had  been  afflicted  for 
some  time,"  said  a  writer  in  the  "  National  Intelligen- 
cer "  of  the  21st,  "with  a  pulmonary  complaint,  which 
he  bore  with  fortitude-.     His   end  was  calm  and  re- 
signed. .  .  .   His  friends  valued   him  ;  their  regret  is 
mingled  with  the  tears  of  his  family ;  and  his  remem- 
brance is  drawn  on  a  tablet  whence  passing  occurrences 
cannot  easily  efface  it."     Alas  for  the  permanence  of 
human   achievement  !      How  completely  effaced  it  is 
now  ! 

Hester  Jefferson  (Mrs.  Mackenzie)  seems  to  have 
possessed  the  same  patient  and  resigned  nature.  A 
Nashville  journal,  recording  her  death,  says  that  "  she 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  99 

bore  a  severe  illness  with  Christian  serenity,"  and  that 
she  was  "  a  lady  graced  by  many  accomplishments,  but 
still  more  by  virtues  which  conciliated  the  esteem  and 
affection  of  all  who  knew  her."  "There  are  many 
friends  of  her  late  father,"  adds  this  obituary  tribute, 
"  and  of  his  family,  in  different  parts  of  the  Union,  to 
whom  this  brief  notice  will  recall  many  affecting  asso- 
ciations.  It  will  be  a  solace  to  them  to  know  that  she 
sed  to  the  portals  of  the  tomb  in  the  full  and  joyous 
assurance  of  a  blessed  immortality." 

The  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  established  by  Thomas 
WJgnell  in  1792-94,  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  April, 
1820,  and  all  the  accumulations  of  the  finest  dra- 
matic temple  in  America  were  lost.  It  was  rebuilt  and 
reopened,  but  it  seems  never  to  have  recovered  its  for- 
mer glory.  A  change  in  the  public  taste  as  to  theatrical 
matters  was  also  maturing  at  about  that  time,  and  play- 
ers, both  women  and  men,  who  had  long  been  favor- 
were  losing  their  hold  upon  popularity,  in  the 
gradual  waning  of  the  generation  to  which  they  be- 
longed. Jefferson,  now  a  frequent  sufferer  from  hered- 
itary gout,  had  begun  somewhat  to  decline,  alike  in 
personal  strength  and  popular  favor.  During  the  sea- 
son of  1821,  Jefferson,  Francis,  Wheatley,  and  others 
of  the  Chestnut  company,  were  ill  almost  one  third  of 
the  time,  and  could  not  appear.  In  the  season  of 
1823-24,  at  Baltimore,  Jefferson  was  ill  nine  nights, 
and  did  not  act.  The  final  scenes  of  his  life's  drama 
wire  being  ushered  in  by  these  warnings  of  decay. 
Wood  refers  to  unfriendly  machinations  against  himself, 
which  presently  parted  him  from  Warren,  who  was  thus 


100  THE   JEFFERSOXS. 

left  alone  in  the  management,  in  1826  ;  and  thereafter 
the  business  grew  worse  and  worse,  the  receipts  falling 
as  low  as  S98,  S90,  S61.50,  and  even  S20.75  a  night,  till 
at  last  Warren  left  the  theatre,  utterly  ruined,  in  1829. 
"Jefferson's  last  benefit,"  writes  Wood,  "took  place  on 
the  23d  of  December,  1829,  and,  being  suddenly  an- 
nounced, failed  to  attract  his  old  admirers  to  the  house. 
He  was  now  infirm  and  in  ill  spirits  from  domestic  dis- 
tresses, as  well  as  the  breaking  up  of  the  old  manage- 
ment, and  the  gloomy  professional  prospects  which  that 
event  placed  before  him.  The  play,  'A  School  for 
Grown  Children,'  had  originally  failed  here,  being  re- 
markably local,  and  proved  a  singularly  bad  choice." 
[This  was  a  comedy  by  Morton,  which  Burton  once 
gave  in  New  York,  under  the  borrowed  name  of  "  Be- 
gone Dull  Care."] 

Similar  testimony  is  borne  by  Wemyss  :  "  Jefferson, 
whose  benefit  was  announced  with  the  new  play  of  'A 
School  for  Grown  Children,'  could  scarcely  muster 
enough  to  pay  the  expenses,  and  resolved  to  leave  the 
theatre.  The  manager,  having  demanded  and  received 
the  full  amount  of  his  nightly  charge  on  such  occasions, 
offered  him  but  half  his  income,  at  the  treasury  on  Sat- 
urday. This  was  a  blow  the  favorite  comedian  could  not 
brook.  The  success  of  Sloman,  an  actor  so  greatly  his 
inferior,  had  irritated  him  both  with  his  manager  and 
the  audience.  But  what  must  have  been  the  apathy  of 
the  public  towards  dramatic  representation,  when  such 
a  man,  whose  reputation  shed  lustre  on  the  theatre  to 
which  he  was  attached,  was  permitted  to  leave  the  city 
of  Philadelphia  with  scarcely  an  inquiry  as  to  his  where- 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  10 1 

abouts ;  two  thirds  of  the  audience  ignorant  of  his  de- 
parture !  The  last  time  he  acted  in  Philadelphia  was 
for  my  benefit,  kindly  studying  the  part  of  Sir  Bashful 
Constant,  in  'The  Way  to  Keep  Him,'  *  which  he  played 
admirably." 

That  useful  but  disagreeable  book  of  reminiscences 
(already  cited),  "  Thirty  Years  Passed  Among  the 
Players  in  England  and  America,"  by  Joseph  Cowell, 
(1844),  contains  a  kindred  reference  to  the  last  days 
and  the  character  of  Jefferson.  Cowell  was  the  father 
of  Samuel  Cowell,  the  well-remembered  actor  and 
comic  singer,  and  of  Sydney  Frances  Cowell,  who,  as 
Mrs.  Hezekiah  L.  Bateman,  became  known  as  a  dra- 
matic author,  and  as  the  mother  of  "  the  Bateman 
Children  "  ;  Kate,  Ellen,  and  Virginia.  Cowell  suc- 
ceeded Wood,  as  stage  manager  of  the  Chestnut,  and  it 
is  to  this  period  he  refers,  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  his 
second  volume,  when  writing  of  Jefferson  :  — 

"  Jefferson  was  the  low  comedian,  and  had  been  for 
more  than  five  and  twenty  years.  Of  course  he  was  a 
most  overwhelming  favorite,  though  at  this  time  drops 
of  pity  for  fast  coming  signs  of  age  and  infirmity  began 
to  be  freely  sprinkled  with  the  approbation  long  habit 
more  than  enthusiasm  now  elicited.  .  .  .  Literally  born 
on  the  stage,  he  brought  with  him  to  this  country  the 
experience  of  age  with  all  the  energy  of  youth,  and 

*  "The  Way  to  Keep  Him."    Comedy,  by  Arthur  Murphy :  Drury 

Lane.  1761.  "Sir  Bashful  Constant  is  a  gentleman  who,  though  pas- 
sionately fond  of  his  wife,  yet  from  a  fear  of  being  laughed  at  by  the  gay 
world  for  uxoriousness,  is  perpetually  assuming  the  tyrant,  and  treating 
her,  at  least  before  company,  with  great  unkindness." —  \Y.  W. 


102  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

in  the  then  infant  state  of  the  drama,  his  superior  tal- 
ent, adorned  by  his  most  exemplary  private  deport- 
ment, gave  him  lasting  claims  to  the  respect  and  grati- 
tude, both  of  the  profession  and  its  admirers.  And, 
perhaps,  on  some  such  imaginary  reed  he  placed  too 
much  dependence  ;  for  the  whole  range  of  the  drama 
cannot,  probably,  furnish  a  more  painful  yet  perfect  ex- 
ample of  the  mutability  of  theatrical  popularity  than 
Joseph  Jefferson. 

"  When  Warren  left  the  management,  younger,  not 
better,  actors  were  brought  in  competition  with  the  vet- 
eran, and  the  same  audience  that  had  actually  grown 
up  laughing  at  him  alone,  as  if  they  had  been  mistaken 
in  his  talent  all  this  time  suddenly  turned  their  smiles 
on  foreign  faces  ;  and,  to  place  their  changed  opinion 
past  a  doubt,  his  benefits,  which  had  never  produced 
less  than  twelve  or  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  and  often 
sixteen,  fell  clown  to  less  than  three.  Wounded  in 
pride,  and  ill  prepared  in  pocket  for  this  sudden  reverse 
of  favor  and  fortune,  he  bade  adieu  forever  to  Phila- 
delphia. With  the  aid  of  his  wife  and  children  he 
formed  a  travelling  company,  and  wandered  through 
the  smaller  towns  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 
ginia, making  Washington  his  headquarters.*     Kindly 

*  The  comedian  had  long  been  accustomed  to  make  periodical  trips 
to  Washington,  and  he  knew  his  ground,  therefore,  on  going  into  exile. 
"  Washington  city,"  says  the  same  writer  ["Thirty  Years,"  Vol.  II. 
chap.  10],  "  could  then  (1827)  boast  of  only  a  very  small  theatre,  in  a 
very  out-of-the-way  situation,  and  used  by  Warren  and  Wood  as  a  sort 
of  summer  retreat  for  their  company,  where  the  disciples  of  Izaak  Wal- 
ton, with  old  Jefferson  at  their  head,  could  indulge  their  fishing  pro- 
pensities." ...  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.      .  103 

j-eceived  and  respected  everywhere,  his  old  age  might 
still  have  passed  in  calm  contentment,  but  that  '  one 
woe  did  tread  upon  another's  heel,  so  fast  they  fol- 
lowed.' His  daughter,  Mrs.  Anderson,  and  his  youngest, 
Jane,  died  in  quick  succession,  after  torturing  hope 
with  long  and  lingering  disease.  His  son-in-law,  Chap- 
man, was  thrown  from  a  horse,  and  the  week  following 
was  in  his  grave.  His  son  John,  an  excellent  actor, 
performed  for  his  father's  benefit,  at  Lancaster,  Pa., 
was  well  and  happy,  went  home,  fell  in  a  fit,  and  was 
dead.  And  last,  not  least,  to  be  named  in  this  sad 
list,1  the  wife  of  his  youth,  the  mother  of  his  thirteen 
children,  the  sharer  of  his  joys  and  sorrows  for  six  and 
thirty  years,  was  '  torn  from  out  his  heart.'  '  The  spirit 
of  a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity  ;  but  a  wounded  spirit 
who  can  bear?  '  "  (  Proverbs  xviii.  14.) 

To  Wood  the  dramatic  inquirer  is  indebted  for  an 
account  of  the  closing  days  and  the  death  of  Jefferson, 
containing  discriminative  observations  on  his  character, 
and  such  touches  of  color  as  are  only  to  be  conveyed 
in  his  own  language.  Though  a  cold  and  crabbed  man, 
and  more  readily  censorious  than  sympathetic,  Wood 
has  no  word  for  Jefferson,  except  of  profound  respect 
and  cordial  kindness.  "  At  an  early  age  Jefferson  antici- 
pated the  inheritance  of  his  father's  complaint  (gout), 
and  vainly  endeavored,  by  a  life  of  the  severest  care 
and  regimen,  to  escape  its  assaults.  For  many  years 
the  attacks  were  slight,  but  with  increasing  age  they 
increased  also,  and  at  length  became  so  frequent  and 
violent  as  to  undermine  Ins  health  and  spirits.  The  de- 
cline of  Warren's  fortunes  greatly  distressed  him.     His 


104         -  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

associates  of  thirty  years  were  disappearing  from  his 
side,  and  he  retired  suddenly  from  a  stage  of  which  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century  he  had  been  the  delight,  orna- 
ment, and  boast.  Like  Warren  he  seemed  unable  to 
witness  a  ruin  which  he  felt  was  inevitable,  and  he  left 
Philadelphia  forever.  ...  I  unexpectedly  met  him, 
subsequently,  at  Washington.  He  was  engaged,  along 
with  John  Jefferson,  Dvvyer,  Mills,  and  Brown,  in  a  tem- 
porary establishment,  the  manager  of  which  had  invited 
Mrs.  Wood  and  myself  to  a  short  star  engagement. 
The  company  was  sufficiently  strong  to  present  a  few 
plays  creditably,  but  could  not  have  afforded  either  a 
suitable  recompense  or  scene  for  his  remarkable  and 
finished  powers.  On  the  benefit  night  of  Mrs.  Wood 
and  me,  our  final  night  at  Washington,  Jefferson  roused 
himself  to  an  effort  which  astonished  us.  Though  now 
grown  old  and  dispirited,  and  with  a  theatre  very  differ- 
ent from  the  one  which  had  formerly  inspired  his 
efforts,  his  performance  of  Sir  Peter  Teazle  in  '  The 
School  for  Scandal,'  and  of  Drugget,  in  '  Three  Weeks 
After  Marriage,'  was  nearly  equal  to  his  finest  and 
early  efforts.  This  was  the  last  time  we  ever  met.  I 
understood,  that,  after  this,  he  .became  engaged  with  a 
company  at  the  town  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  and  appeared 
occasionally.  Of  course  any  theatrical  company  must 
have  been  small  and  very  imperfectly  established 
in  such  a  village.  Many  and  severe  domestic  af- 
flictions were  added  to  his  bodily  sufferings,  and, 
worn  out  with  physical  and  mental  distress,  he  there 

closed  his  pure  and  blameless  life There  never 

was  at  any  time,  on  any  subject,  the  least  estrangement 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  1 05 

between  Jefferson  and  myself.  On  the  contrary,  our 
personal,  not  less  than  our  professional,  intercourse  was 
for  thirty  years  or  more  an  unbroken  circle  of  regard 

and  pleasure.     It  remained  so  to  the  end  of  it 

Nobody  of  just  feelings  could  know  Jefferson  as  long 
and  intimately  as  I  knew  him,  and  have  any  estrange- 
ment with  him  about  anything ;  for  he  was  a  man  at 

once  just,   discreet,   unassuming,  and  amiable 

As  a  citizen  little  was  known  of  him.  Studious  and  se- 
cluded in  his  habits,  and  surrounded  by  a  numerous 
family,  he  had  neither  the  wish  nor  leisure  for  general 
society.  A  few  select  friends  and  the  care  of  his  chil- 
dren occupied  the  hours  hardly  snatched  from  his  pro- 
fessional duties.  He  felt  an  unconquerable  dislike  to 
the  degradation  of  being  exhibited  as  the  merry-maker 
of  a  dinner  party,*  and  sometimes  offended  by  his  per- 
severance on  this  point.  He  was  frequently  heard  to 
observe  that  for  any  dinner  entertainments  there  were 
plenty  of  amateur  amusers  to  be  found,  without  ex- 
hausting the  spirits  and  powers  of  actors  who  felt  them- 
selves pledged  to  reserve  their  best  professional  efforts 
for  the  public  who  sustained  them.  To  an  excellent 
ear  for  music,  he  added  no  inconsiderable  pretensions 
as  a  painter  and  machinist.  Incapable  alike  of  feeling 
or  inspiring  enmity,  he  passed  nearly  thirty  years  of 
theatrical  life  in  harmony  and.comfort.  It  is  painful  to 
contrast  those  with  the  misfortunes  of  his  later  years, 
the  result  of  the  miserable  schemes  of  amateur  direc- 
tion in  our  theatre,  which  ended  in  its  total  breaking  up 

*  This  was  also  true  of  his  contemporary  and  associate,  Francis 
Blissett,  and  the  same  trait  shows  itself  in  the  character  of  Jefferson  the 
Fourth.  —  W.  W. 


106  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

and  in  sending  upon  the  world,  in  their  old  age,  almost 

the  whole   body  of  its  long  settled  and  respectable 

company. 

'  Hard  was  his  fate,  for  he  was  not  to  blame. 
There  is  a  destiny  in  this  strange  world 
Which  oft  decrees  an  undeserved  doom  — 
Let  schoolmen  tell  us  why.'" 

One  of  the  best  existing  descriptions  of  Jefferson  as 
an  actor  is  contained  in  the  following  passage  from 
Wemyss  :  — 

"Joseph  Jefferson  was  an  actor  formed  in  nature's 
merriest  mood  —  a  genuine   son  of  Momus.     There 
was  a  vein  of  rich  humor  running  through  all  he  did, 
which  forced  you  to  laugh,  despite  of  yourself.    He  dis- 
carded grimace  as  unworthy  of  him,  although  no  actor 
possessed  a  greater  command  over  the  muscles  of  his 
own  face  or  the  faces  of  his  audience,  —  compelling 
you  to  laugh  or  cry,  at  his  pleasure.     His  excellent 
personation  of  old  men  acquired  for  him,  before  he 
had  reached  the  meridian  of  life,  the  title  of  '  Old  Jef- 
ferson.'     The  astonishment  of  strangers  at  seeing  a 
good-looking  young  man  pointed  out  in  the  street  as 
Jefferson,  whom  they  had  seen  the  night  previous  at 
the  theatre,  tottering  apparently  on  the  verge  of  exist- 
ence, was  the  greatest  compliment  which  could  be  paid 
to  the  talent  of  the  actor.    His  versatility  was  astonish- 
ing—  light  comedy,  old  men,  pantomime,  and  occa- 
sionally juvenile  tragedy.     Educated  in  the  very  best 
school  for  acquiring  knowledge  in  his  profession,  .  .  . 
Jefferson  was  an  adept  in  all  the  trickery  of  the  stage, 
which,  when  it  suited  his  purpose,  he  could  turn  to  ex- 
cellent account.     He  was  the  reigning  favorite  of  the 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  107 

Philadelphia  Theatre  for  a  longer  period  than  any  other 
actor  ever  attached  to  the  city,  and  left  it  with  a  repu- 
tation all  might  envy.  In  his  social  relations  he  was 
the  model  of  what  a  gentleman  should  be,  —  a  kind 
husband,  an  affectionate  father,  a  warm  friend,  and  a 
truly  honest  man.  He  died  at  Harrisburg,  where  he 
had  been  playing  at  his  son's  theatre,  but  no  stone 
marks  the  spot  where  moulder  the  remains  of  one  of 
the  brightest  ornaments  of  his  profession.  '  Alas,  poor 
Yorick  !  '" 

This  was  published  in  1848,  and  the  statement  as  to 
Jefferson's  grave  was,  no  doubt,  made  from  memory, 
and  without  verification.  The  neglect  thus  regretted 
had,  in  fact,  been  reverently  repaired.  Jefferson  was 
buried  in  the  grounds  of  the  Episcopal  church  at  Har- 
risburg, in  the  rear  of  the  building  ;  and  there,  in  1843, 
a  memorial  stone  was  placed  over  him  by  Judge  Gibson* 
and  Judge  Rogers,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsyl- 

*  John  Bannister  Gibson.  —  This  name  is  distinguished  as  that 
of  a  jurist  of  high  ability  and  rank,  lie  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  in  i7So,being  the  son  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  <  iibson,  who  was  killed 
in  battle  with  the  savage  Indian--,  in  St.  Clair's  expedition  against  them, 
in  1791.  Hi  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1803,  and  subsequently  was 
several  times  elected  to  the  Mate  legislature.  In  1S1  5  he  was  appointed 
presiding  Judge  of  one  of  the  judicial  districts  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in 
1 S16  he  became  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State. 
In  1827  he  became  Chief  Justice,  succeeding  fudge  Tilghman.  He  was 
deprived  of  his  seat  in  1851,  when  a  change  in  the  Constitution  of  Penn- 
sylvania made  the  judiciary  an  elective  institution,  —  an  impolitic,  fool- 
ish, and  pernicious  arrangement  whenever  and  wherever  adopted.  He 
was.  however,  elected  an  Associate  lustier  in  the  same  year.  He  died 
in  Philadelphia  in  1853,  having  been  eminent  on  the  bench  for  forty 
years.  An  elequent  eulogy  on  him  was  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Jere- 
miah Black,  which  may  be  found  in  the  seventh  volume  of  Harris's 
Pennsylvania  State  Reports.  — W.  W. 


108  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

vania.    The  inscription  on  this  tablet,  written  by  Judge 
Gibson,  is  as  follows  :  — 

BENEATH  THIS  MARBLE 
ARE   DEPOSITED  THE  ASHES  OF 

JOSEPH   JEFFERSON: 

AN  ACTOR  WHOSE  UNRIVALLED  POWERS 

TOOK  IN  THE  WHOLE  RANGE  OF  COMIC  CHARACTER, 

FROM   PATHOS  TO  SOUL-SHAKING    MIRTH. 

HIS  COLORING  OF  THE   PART  WAS   THAT   OF   NATURE, —  WARM, 

PURE,  AND  FRESH  ; 
BUT  OF  NATURE  ENRICHED  WITH  THE  FINEST  CONCEPTIONS  OF 

GENIUS. 

HE  WAS  A  MEMBER   OF   THE    CHESTNUT    STREET  THEATRE, 

PHILADELPHIA, 

IN  ITS  MOST  HIGH  AND  PALMY  DAYS, 

AND  THE  COMPEER 

OF  COOPER,  WOOD,  WARREN,  FRANCIS, 

AND  A  LONG   LIST  OF  WORTHIES 

WHO, 

LIKE    HIMSELF, 

ARE  REMEMBERED  WITH  ADMIRATION  AND  PRAISE. 

HE  WAS  A  NATIVE  OF  ENGLAND. 

WITH  AN  UNBLEMISHED  REPUTATION  AS  A  MAN, 

HE  CLOSED  A  CAREER   OF   PROFESSIONAL  SUCCESS, 

IN  CALAMITY  AND  AFFLICTION, 

AT  THIS  PLACE, 

IN  THE  YEAR  1832. 

"  1 knew  him  Horatio :  a  fellow  of  infinite  jest ;  of  most 

excelletit  fancy  P 


* 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  109 

There  is  an  authentic  tradition  that  the  clergyman 
who  read  the  burial  service  of  the  Church  of  England 
over  the  remains  of  Jefferson,  knowing  that  he  had  been 
an  actor,  and  stupidly  disapproving  of  that  circumstance, 
actually  altered  the  text  of  the  ritual,  substituting  the 
phrase  "  this  man "  for  "  our  deceased  brother,"  in 
the  solemn  passage  beginning  "  Forasmuch  as  it  hath 
pleased  Almighty  God,  in  his  wise  Providence,  to  take 
out  of  this  world  the  soul  of  our  deceased  brother,  we 
therefore  commit  his  body  to  the  ground  —  earth  to 
earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust."  This  proceeding, 
which  was  observed  at  the  time,  and  which  can  only 
be  viewed  as  a  petty  act  of  bigotry  and  profanation, 
done  with  deliberate  intent  to  cast  a  sort  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal indignity  upon  the  dead,  has  been  remembered  by 
the  descendants  of  the  noble  and  blameless  person 
whose  dust  was  thus  assailed.  The  present  Joseph 
Jefferson,  whose  spotless  character  and  beneficent  life 
are  their  own  sufficient  praise,  is  not  a  member  of  the 
church.  It  is  by  acts  like  this,  with  which  its  history 
has  often  been  sullied,  that  the  church  has  suffered  the 
alienation  of  thousands  of  as  good  and  true  hearts  as 
ever  lived. 

After  resting  nearly  forty  years,  the  remains  of  Jef- 
ferson the  Second  were  removed  from  the  Episcopal 
churchyard  to  the  Harrisburg  cemetery,  and  again  laid 
in  the  earth.  The  same  stone  which  marked  their  first 
sepulchre  marks  now  their  final  place  of  repose.  This 
disturbance  of  them  was  compelled,  through  the  con- 
version of  a  part  of  the  churchyard  into  a  building  plot. 
In  the  absence  of  the  present  Jefferson,  the  removal  to 


110  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

a  temporary  lodgement  was  effected  by  Attorney- Gen- 
eral Brewster  and  Senator  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania ; 
but  on  returning  from  abroad,  Jefferson  personally  ad- 
justed this  matter,  and  supervised  the  final  burial. 

A  Philadelphia  writer,  whose  name  is  unknown,  gives 
this  glimpse  of  the  personal  appearance  of  the  old  co- 
median :  "  He  was  scarcely  of  medium  height,  not  cor- 
pulent, elderly,  with  clear  and  searching  eyes,  a  rather 
large  and  pointed  nose,  and  an  agreeable  general  ex- 
pression. But  never  was  a  human  face  more  plastic. 
His  natural  recognition  of  each  personage  in  the  mimic 
scene,  his  interest  in  all  that  was  addressed  to  him,  the 
plan  or  purpose  of  what  he  had  to  say,  his  coaxing, 
quizzing,  wheedling,  domineering,  and  grotesque  effects, 
were  all  complete  without  the  utterance  of  words  ;  yet 
it  was  said  that  in  these  particulars  he  never  twice  ren- 
dered a  scene  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  In  sing- 
ing, his  voice  was  a  rich  baritone,  and  in  speech  it  was 
naturally  the  same.  He  was  so  perfect  an  artist  that, 
although  always  faithful  to  his  author,  he  could,  by 
voice  or  face  or  gesture,  make  a  point  at  every  exit." 

Jefferson  the  Second  resided  for  many  years  in  a 
modest  house  at  No.  10  Powell  Street,  Philadelphia. 
This  is  still  standing,  but  a  change  in  the  enumeration 
of  the  houses  in  that  street  has  made  it  number  510. 
In  company  with  Jefferson  the  Fourth,  the  present 
writer  visited  this  house,  in  September,  1880.  Upon 
Mr.  Jefferson's  saying  that  his  grandfather  once  lived 
there,  the  occupants  courteously  invited  us  to  enter, 
and  we  passed  a  little  time  in  the  rooms  on  the  second 
floor,  which  the   comedian   distinctly  remembered  as 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  Ill 

associated  with  his  ancestor.  He  recalled  having  been 
held  up  at  the  front  window,  a  child  in  his  grandfather's 
arms,  to  watch  the  heavy  raindrops  pattering  in  the 
pools  of  water  in  the  street  below,  —  which  drops  the  old 
gentleman  told  him  were  silver  pieces,  and  said  he  should 
presently  go  down  and  pick  them  up.  This  anecdote, 
told  then  and  there,  seemed  very  suggestive  of  the  kind, 
playful  nature  always  ascribed  to  "  Old  Jefferson." 

There  was  a  strong  personal  resemblance  between 
President  Jefferson  and  the  comedian,  and  this  indica- 
tion confirmed  their  mutual  belief  that  they  had  sprung 
from  the  same  stock.  They  were  friendly  acquaint- 
ances, and  occasionally  met ;  but  the  actor,  who  shrunk 
with  honorable  pride  from  even  the  appearance  of  court- 
ing the  favor  of  the  great,  was  always  shy  of  accepting 
the  attentions  of  the  President.  A  book  had  appeared, 
written  by  an  Englishman,  in  which  it  was  asserted,  in 
a  spirit  of  ridicule,  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  while  in  the  morning  he  would  write  State  pa- 
pers and  attend  to  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  could  at 
night  be  always  seen  at  the  theatre,  with  a  red  wig  on 
his  head,  bowing  his  thanks  for  the  applause  that  he 
got  while  making  the  people  laugh  in  a  farce.  This  was 
sufficiently  childish  satire,  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  any  person  seriously  regarded  it.  Yet  the  barb 
underlying  it  was  not  wholly  without  its  effect  on  the 
sensitive  nature  of  the. comedian.  He  entertained  a 
profound  respect  for  the  Republican  ideas  of  his  adopted 
country,  and  for  the  exalted  office  of  its  chief  magis- 
trate ;  and  this,  conjoined  with  the  self-respecting  dig- 
nity of  his  character,  made  him  extremely  punctilious 


112  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

as  to  all  social  intercourse  outside  of  his  own  class  and 
rank.  The  President  and  himself  were  not  able  to  trace 
their  positive  relationship,  but  both  believed  it  to  exist, 
although  the  ancestry  of  the  former  was  Welsh,  while 
that  of  the  latter  was  English.  The  actor,  however, 
said  that  his  gratification  in  their  alliance  would  be 
marred  if  the  matter  were  made  known,  as  an  avowal 
of  it  might  be  misunderstood.  President  Jefferson, 
on  one  occasion,  presented  to  the  actor  a  court- dress, 
as  a  mark  of  his  respect  and  admiration.  This  was 
highly  valued  by  the  recipient,  and  was  left  by  him 
to  his  son  Joseph  (Jefferson  the  Third),  who  also  in- 
herited Garrick's  Abel  Drugger  wig.  These  relics 
formed  part  of  the  wardrobe  intrusted  by  Jefferson  the 
Third  to  Joseph  Cowell,  and  by  him  stored  in  the  St. 
Charles  Theatre,  New  Orleans,  which  —  as  mentioned 
in  a  previous  chapter  —  was  burnt  and  destroyed,  with 
all  its  contents,  on  Sunday  night,  March  13th,  1842. 

One  of  the  biographers  of  President  Jefferson  de- 
scribes that  remarkable  man  in  language  which  might 
almost  equally  well  apply  to  the  great  actor  who  was  his 
contemporary  :  "  He  was  a  tender  husband  and  father, 
a  mild  master,  a  warm  friend,  and  a  delightful  host. 
His  knowledge  of  life,  extensive  travels,  and  long  famil- 
iarity with  great  events  and  distinguished  men  rendered 
his  conversation  highly  attractive  to  mere  social  visitors. 
His  scientific  acquisitions  and  the  deep  interest  which 
he  took  in  all  branches  of  natural  history  made  his  so- 
ciety equally  agreeable  to  men  of  learning.  Many  such 
visited  him,  and  were  impressed  as  deeply  by  his  gen- 
eral knowledge  as  they  were  by  the  courtesy  of  his  de- 
meanor." 


JEFFERSON   THE  SECOND.  113 

The  American  Republic  to  which  Jefferson  emigrated 
was,  of  course,  very  different  from  the  Republic  of  to- 
day. It  contained  but  sixteen  of  the  States  which  now 
compose  it,  together  with  the  District  of  Columbia  ;  and 
the  entire  population  of  the  country  was  less  than  five 
millions.  This  was  in  1795.*  The  city  of  New  York, 
as  late  as  1S07,  contained  scarcely  more  than  80,000 
persons.  Jefferson  made  his  advent  during  the  second 
term  of  the  presidency  of  Washington,  and,  living 
through  the  terms  of  Adams,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Mon- 
roe, and  J.  Q.  Adams,  died  in  the  first  term  of  Jack- 
son. There  is  room  for  much  reflection,  by  the  student 
of  theatrical  history,  on  the  changed  conditions  under 
which  the  dramatic  profession  is  now  pursued,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  circumstances  that  surrounded  the  act- 
ors of  Jefferson's  time. 

It  is  the  privilege  of  the  biographer  now  to  present  a 
compendium  of  personal  recollections  of  her  father  and 
other  relatives,  furnished  to  him  by  Elizabeth  Jeffer- 
son (Mrs.  Chapman-Richardson-Fisher),  the  daughter 
of  Jefferson  the  Second.  They  were  written  in  the 
form  of  rough  memoranda,  styled  "  Notes  from  Mem- 
dry."  and  they  were  found  to  require  editorial  revision. 
The  present  writer,  accordingly,  with  the  permission  of 
the  venerable  lady  who  has  thus  graciously  obliged  him 
with  these  reminiscences,  has  carefully  paraphrased  her 
narrative,  —  preserving  her  facts,  strictly  adhering  to  the 
spirit  of  her  statements,  and.  wherever  possible,  using 
her  words.     Mrs.  Fisher,  now  a  resident  of  St.  John's, 

*  The  American  period  Mirvcyed  by  this  biography  is  eighty-six  years, 
—  from  1795  to  'SSi. —  VV.  \Y. 


ii4 


THE   JEFFERSONS. 


Newfoundland,  is  upwards  of  seventy  years  of  age 
(1881),  and  is  one  of  the  last  remaining  ties  that  link 
the  present  period  to  a  most  intellectual  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  American  stage.  Her  life,  of  which  an 
account  is  furnished  in  the  next  chapter  of  this  memoir, 
has  been  one  romantic  tragedy,  teeming  with  honor, 
but  marred  with  a  succession  of  calamitous  misfortunes. 
Her  recollections  are  as  follows  :  — 


REMINISCENCES    OF   ELIZABETH    JEFFERSON. 


"  My  father  was  genial  and  social,  but  quiet  and  re- 
served in  manner.  He  never  allowed  theatrical  mat- 
ters to  be  discussed  in  his  presence ;  not  from  any  dis- 
like of  his  profession,  but  because  his  life  was  so  entirely 
wrapt  up  in  it  that  he  needed  relief  from  reference. to 
the  subject  of  his  constant  study  and  thought. 

"  Hodgkinson  was  most  liberal  to  my  father  in 
professional  business,  and  in  a  very  little  time  after 
they  came  together  gave  up  to  him  the  low-comedy 
parts.  This  soon  made  him  a  leading  feature  of  the 
John  Street  Theatre,  and  a  great  favorite  with  the  pub- 
lic. One  night,  when  it  chanced  that  his  first  child 
was  very  ill,  he  had  gone  to  the  theatre  much  depressed, 
though  not  apprehensive  of  bereavement.  While  dress- 
ing himself  for  a  farce,  he  received  news  that  his  child 
was  dead.  The  love  of  children  was  a  ruling  passion 
with  my  father,  and  to  lose  his  own  and  (then)  only 
one,  was  an  overwhelming  grief.  Hodgkinson  went 
before  the  curtain  to   state   the  reason  of  the  delay 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  \  I  5 

that  had  been  caused  by  this  news,  and  to  beg  of  the 
audience  to  allow  another  farce  to  be  substituted  for 
the  one  announced;  but  the  whole  house  rose,  and, 
with  a  cry  of  '  No  farce  ! '  left  the  theatre.  This  was 
an  unusual  compliment. 

"  Considerations  of  economy  were  among  the  rea- 
sons that  induced  my  father  to  remove  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia,  where  his  name  became  a  household 
word.  No  man  ever  held  more  esteem  and  affection 
than  followed  him.  His  wife  lived  but  in  him  ;  his  chil- 
dren idolized  him  ;  his  servants  worshipped  him  ;  his 
nature  was  one  that  inspired  not  only  respect  but  love  ; 
his  fondness  for  children  was  extreme,  and  1  have  seen 
our  parlor  at  home  filled  with  little  ones,  —  children 
of  neighbors,  whose  names  even  he  did  not  know,  — 
but  they  flocked  around  him  as  if  he  were  something 
more  than  mortal,  and  he  never  tired  of  amusing  them. 
A  great  tease  he  was  to  them  — but  they  preferred  to 
be  teased  by  him,  rather  than  petted  by  others. 

"There  was  a  simplicity  in  our  household  that  I 
have  seldom  met  with  since.  In  affairs  of  business  my 
father  would  often  take  us  all  into  his  council.  One  in- 
stance of  this,  which  is  singular  and  amusing,  I  partic- 
ular!}' recall.  A  neighbor  of  ours  was  in  the  habit  of 
lending  mone)  at  interest,  —  a  proceeding  which  we 
had  been  taught  to  regard  as  almost  as  bad  as  rob- 
bery,—  and  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  in  need 
of  money,  had  come  to  him  to  borrow  it.  The  usurer 
<  hanced  to  be  insufficiently  supplied,  and  he  mentioned 
tin's  exigency  to  m\  father,  saying  that  a  certain  verj 
high  rah-  of  interest   could   be  obtained   upon   a    loan. 


Il6  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

My  father  answered  that  he  would  consider  the  propo- 
sition, and  communicate  his  decision  on  the  morrow. 
He  then  called  a  family  council  and  apprised  us  of  his 
opportunity  to  profit  by  usury.  He  dwelt  long  and 
earnestly  on  the  merchant's  distress.  We  all  exclaimed 
in  horror  against  the  idea.  I  vividly  remember  the  im- 
pression I  received  that  he  was  about  to  become  a  Shy- 
lock,  and  that  he  might  be  tempted  to  end  by  cutting 
a  pound  of  flesh  from  the  breast  of  the  impoverished 
debtor.  But  we  kept  our  father  from  that  shocking  crime, 
which,  of  course,  he  had  not  dreamed  of  an  intention 
to  commit,  and  blessed  him  that  he  was  not  a  Shylock. 
His  quiet,  waggish  way  of  enforcing  a  moral  lesson  was 
to  be  realized  afterward  in  memory.  I  do  not  suppose 
that  there  ever  was  a  man  who  lived  more  entirely 
unspotted  from  the  world  (James  i.  27). 

"  In  matters  relative  to  the  stage  he  was  scrupulously 
careful  and  thorough.  His  wigs  were,  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions, invented  and  made  by  himself.  He  hit  upon 
the  idea  of  a  wig  that  should  be  practicable  —  the  hair 
upon  it  rising  at  fright.  He  had  undertaken  a  part  in  a 
piece  entitled  "The  Farmer,"*  but  not  being  particu- 
larly struck  by  it,  he  set  about  the  study  of  what  could 
be  done  to  strengthen  it.  It  was  then  that  he  hit  upon 
the  expedient  of  making  the  wig  do  what  the  part 
was  unqualified  to  accomplish,  and  he  was  richly  repaid 
by  the  laughter  of  the  audience.  I  was  present,  and  I 
remember  hearing  the  people  all  around  me  saying, 
'  Now  look  at  Jefferson's  wig,'  in  a  certain  scene  of  the 
piece  ;  and,  indeed,  this  comic  wig  saved  the  play. 

*  "  The  Farmer."  A  musical  farce,  in  two  acts.  By  John  O'Keefe. 
Covent  Garden,  1787.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON   THE   SECOXD.  HJ 

"  His  varied  talent  was  strained  to  every  line  of  act- 
ing, except  tragedy.  On  one  occasion  Mrs.  Wood,  * 
the  leading  lady  of  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  and 
wife  of  the  manager  (William  B.  Wood),  was  joking 
with  him,  saving  that  he  had  mistaken  his  calling,  and 
that  his  forte  was  tragedy,  and  she  persuaded  him 
to  play  for  his  benefit  Old  Norval,  in  the  Rev.  John 
Home's  tragedy  of  '  Douglas.'  I  have  heard  him  de- 
clare that  he  really  intended  to  act  this  part  seriously, 
but  he  said  that  the  audience  had  been  so  accustomed 
to  laughing  whenever  he  appeared  that  they  would  not 
accept  him  soberly,  and  when  he  made  his  entrance  in 
this  tragic  character,  he  was  greeted  with  a  perfect 
yell  of  laughter.  He  tried  to  be  solemn,  but  it  was 
of  no  use.  The  spectators  had  determined  to  laugh 
at  Jefferson,  and  laugh  they  did.  Mrs.  Wood  always 
said  that  lie  did  something  on  the  sly  to  provoke  the 
laughter,  but  he  would  not  acknowledge  this.  I  sus- 
p  i  him,  though  —  for  his  sentimental  acting,  as  it 
occasionall)  occurred  in  comedy,  was  touching  and 
beautiful. 

•'  After  my  father's  death,  when  I  was  alone  in  this 
part  of  the  world  (New  York),  I  was  requested  to  give 
permission  for  the  removal  of  his  remains  from  Harris- 
burg  to  Philadelphia,  where  it  was  said  a  monument 
should  be  cm  ted  to  his  memory.  But,  knowing  what 
sorrow  he  had  suffered  at  the  neglect  he  received  in 
Philadelphia,  towards  the  end  of  his  career,  and  know- 

*  "January  :  th,   1804.      M  1  Rev.    Dr.  Abercrombie ; 

Mr.  \V.  B.  W I,  to  Miss  [uliana  Westray,  both  ol   this  theatre."  — 

Wood's  Personal  Recollect\  /-.  p.  101. 


Il8  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

ing  also  his  aversion  to  all  disturbance  of  the  grave,  I 
refused  to  sanction  this  proceeding.  His  ideas  were 
peculiar  as  to  death.  When  I  wished  him  to  see  my 
mother,  after  she  was  dead,  he  would  not  be  persuaded. 
'  How  can  you  ask  me,'  he  said,  '  to  turn  with  disgust 
from  a  face  which  for  so  many  years  has  been  my  pride 
and  my  pleasure  ?  '  And  until  a  year  before  his  death 
he  never  saw  a  corpse.  The  first  and  only  dead  face 
he  ever  looked  on  was  that  of  his  son  John.  His  wish 
was  to  be  buried  in  a  village  churchyard,  with  no  stone 
to  mark  the  place.  But  this,  it  seems,  could  not  be,  for 
two  of  his  old  friends,  judges  of  Pennsylvania,  erected 
a  stone  at  his  head,  in  Harrisburg,  where  he  died. 

"  I  never  but  once  saw  my  father  out  of  temper : 
and,  indeed,  he  could  not  have  borne  to  be  so  ;  his  nat- 
urally equable  temper  was  essential  to  his  health.  Dur- 
ing Mr.  Wemyss's*  stage  management  of  the  Chestnut 
Street  Theatre  (1827-30),  that  gentleman  went  abroad 
to  try  to  engage  a  company  that  in  fact  was  not  wanted. 
Among  other  importations  that  he  brought  back  was 
Mr.  John  Sloman,  a  comic  singer,'  together  with  his 
wife,  as  stars.  Mr.  Sloman  was  a  good  comic  singer, 
but  as  an  actor  was  execrable.     In  my  father's  con- 

*  Francis  Courtney  Wemyss  (1797-1859),  author  of  the  "The- 
atrical Biography,"  previously  cited.  In  chapter  xiii.  of  that  work  Mr. 
Wemyss  refers  to  this  subject,  as  follows  :  "  We  proceeded  as  usual  to 
Baltimore  for  the  spring  season,  and  while  there  I  was  taken  one  morn- 
ing by  surprise,  by  an  offer  from  Mr.  Warren  to  accept  the  acting  and 
stage  management  of  the  theatres  under  his  direction  ;  to  cross  the 
Atlantic,  and  recruit  his  dramatic  company  by  engaging  new  faces  from 
England.  ...  I  therefore,  on  the  6th  of  May,  1S27,  made  an  engage- 
ment for  three  years  with  Mr.  Warren.  .  .  .  On  the  20th  of  June  I 
sailed  from  Philadelphia.''  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  IIQ 

tract  with  the  theatre  it  was  expressly  stipulated,  and 
had  been  so  for  years,  that  all  plays  or  farces  in 
which  he  was  desired  to  appear  should  be  sent  to  him, 
so  that  he  might  choose  his  part.  This  arrangement 
seemed  to  hurt  the  self-love  of  some  of  the  actors  ;  but, 
as  it  was  a  rule,  Mr.  Wemyss  did  not  attempt  to  break 
it.  Nevertheless,  after  Mr.  Sloman  had  made  a  hit  with 
his  comic  singing.  Mr.  Wemyss  harbored  the  idea  that 
the  American  public  would  accept  him  also  as  an  ac- 
tor ;  and  so  all  the  new  pieces  that  came  from  England 
that  season  were  given  to  Sloman,  on  the  pretext 
that  he  was  a  new  star,  and  that  they  were  his  own 
property.  My  father  made  no  protest,  feeling  sure  that 
neither  Mr.  Wemyss  nor  Mr.  Sloman  could  depose  him 
from  his  place  in  the  public  regard.  On  an  occasion 
of  Mr.  Warren's  benefit,  Sloman  volunteered  his  ser- 
vices, and  my  father  was  to  act  in  a  new  farce.  I  was 
in  the  green-room  that  day,  and  I  never  shall  forget  my 
father's  face  when  he  saw  the  announcement.  This 
proclaimed,  first,  a  five-act  tragedy;  then  six  succes- 
sive songs  by  Sloman;  then  a  farce  for  Sloman;  and, 
finally,  his  own  feature,  'The  Illustrious  Stranger.'* 
Mr.  Wemyss  happened  to  enter  the  room  at  this  mo- 
ment. My  father  said  to  him.  wry  quietly,  'Good 
morning,  sir  ;  that  bill  must  be  changed.'  'Why,  Mi'. 
Jefferson.'  he  replied,  'it  is  impossible:  we  could  not 
have  new  bills  printed  by  night.'  'I  don't  care  what 
you    do,'  answered    my  father:  'I  want   the   order   of 

•"The    Illustrious    Stranger,    <>r    Married   and    Buried"     Musi- 
cal farce,  in   two   acts.     By  James    Kenney.      Drury    Lane,   1S27. — 

w.  vv, 


120  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

those  pieces  changed.  I  have  spent  time  and  thought 
upon  my  part,  and,  damn  it,  sir,  I  won't  have  it  wasted.' 
The  manager's  face  was  a  picture.  An  oath  from  the 
lips  of  Jefferson  frightened  us  all ;  but  his  farce  was 
placed  immediately  after  the  tragedy,  and  I  remember 
that  it  was  a  success.  I  never  heard  my  father  use  a 
profane  word,  except  on  that  occasion. 

"  The  Chestnut  Street  Theatre  was  now  declining  in 
prosperity.  Mr.  Warren  (my  uncle)  was  soon  declared 
insolvent.  This  new  company,  which  his  stage-man- 
ager (Mr.  Wemyss)  had  engaged,  was  to  have  raised 
the  theatre  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  success ;  but  it 
proved,  as  sensible  observers  had  feared,  the  ruin  of 
the  house.*  My  father's  benefit,  always  good  before 
this,  now  turned  out  a  failure.  Edwin  Forrest,  then 
the  rising  star,  chanced  to  be  acting  at  the  Walnut.  On 
my  father's  benefit  night  the  opposition  managers  had 
put  up  Forrest's  name  for  a  benefit,  and  the  young 
favorite  proved  the  success.  While  we  were  sitting 
that  day  at  dinner,  a  letter  was  brought  from  Forrest, 
stating  that  the  writer  had  not  been  aware  of  the  em- 
ployment of  his  name  to  oppose  that  of  the  elder  actor, 
and  that  he  hoped  the  blame  might  be  laid  where  it 
was  due  ;  and  he  offered  to  give  my  father  a  night, 
whenever  he  might  choose  to  name  the  time,  to  prove 
his  respect  and  appreciation.  My  father  deemed  the 
young  actor  somewhat  presumptuous  in  taking  so  much 
for  granted  ;  but  a  few  hours  sufficed  to  teach  him  the 

*  The  instructions  to  engage  this  company  emanated  from  Mr.  War- 
ren himself,  of  whose  plans  Mr.  Wemyss  was  only  the  executor,  not  the 
originator.  —  W.  W. 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  121 

bitter  lesson  of  waning  popularity.  On  the  night  of  that 
last  benefit  in  Philadelphia,  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
leave  that  city  and  never  return  to  it. 

"  At  a  later  time,  when  my  father  was  acting  and 
managing  in  Washington,  Forrest  came  there  as  a  star, 
and  he  then  actually  refused  one  night's  emolument. 
He  had  said  that  he  would  play  one  night  for  Jefferson, 
and  he  insisted  on  keeping  his  word.  The  money  was 
sent  after  him  when  this  was  discovered,  but  he  returned 
it,  and  positively  refused  to  receive  it.  Efforts  were 
made,  from  time  to  time,  to  induce  my  father  to  return 
tp  Philadelphia.  Forrest's  brother,  at  the  Walnut,  made 
him  a  most  liberal  offer,  without  conditions.  Wemyss 
also  came,  offering  anything.  But  this  was  in  vain. 
The  heart  and  the  pride  of  the  actor  had  been  wounded 
to  death,     lie  never  went  back,  and  he  soon  died. 

"  Of  all  my  father's  children  the  most  talented  was 
John.  He  was  the  pride  of  our  family.  A  classical 
scholar,  proficient  also  in  the  modern  languages,  a  clever 
artist,  an  accomplished  musician,  a  good  caricaturist, 
an  excellent  actor,  he  was  one  of  the  most  talented  men 
of  his  day.  Plaj  ing  seconds  to  my  father,  he  had  caught 
his  thoroughness  <>f  style  without  becoming  a  servile  im- 
itator. He  was  a  good  singer  and  a  graceful  dancer. 
He  possessed  ever)  attribute  essential  to  an  actor, 
but  his  attrai  tive  disposition  and  his  brilliant  talents 
soon  gave  him  an  exacting  and  perilous  popularity. 
Gay  company,  and  the  dissipation  that  it  caused,  in- 
jured his  health,  though  to  the  last  he  never  was  known 
to  tail  in  professional  duty.  The  last  performance  he 
ever  gave  was  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.     When  my 


122  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

father  left  Philadelphia,  John,  who  had  acted  both  at 
the  Chestnut  and  Walnut,  resolved  to  turn  manager, 
and,  for  some  time  after  that,  he  managed  theatres  at 
Washington  and  Baltimore,  making  summer  trips  to 
Harrisburg,  Lancaster,  Pottsville,  and  other  places.  It 
was  while  we  were  playing  at  Lancaster  that  John  died. 
The  pieces  that  night  were  '  The  School  for  Scandal ' 
and  'The  Poor  Soldier.'  Part  of  the  cast  of  the  former 
was  as  follows  :  — 


Sir  Peter  Teazle  . 
Sir  Oliver  Surface 
Rowley  .  .  .  . 
Lady  Teazle  .  . 
Mrs.  Candour  .  . 
Lady  Sneerwell  . 
Maria       .... 


Joseph  Jefferson,  Sr. 

John  Jefferson. 

Joseph  Jefferson,  Jr.  (the  Third). 

Mrs.  S.  Chapman. 

Mrs.  Joseph  Jefferson,  Jr. 

Miss  Anderson. 

Miss  Jefferson. 


"  The  Miss  Anderson  was  the  eldest  daughter  of  my 
sister  Euphemia  ;  the  Miss  Jefferson  was  my  sister  Mary 
Anne,  now  Mrs.  Wright ;  Mrs.  S.  Chapman  was  myself: 
so  this  was  indeed  a  theatrical  family  party.  In  mount- 
ing the  steps  of  the  hotel,  on  our  return  from  the  per- 
formance, my  brother  John  slipped  on  a  bit  of  orange 
peel,  and  fell  heavily,  striking  his  head  —  the  steps 
were  of  marble  —  and  fracturing  his  skull.  He  was 
taken  up  insensible,  and  he  never  spoke  again.  My 
father  never  rallied  from  the  shock  of  this  calamity.  In 
this  son  his  chief  hopes  had  been  centred.  He  be- 
lieved that  John  was  destined  to  great  honor  and  fame, 
and  that  he  would  keep  the  name  of  Jefferson  distin- 
guished upon  the  stage.  After  this  my  father  refused 
to  act  in  any  of  the  plays  in  which  John  had  been  ac- 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  1 23 

customed  to  act  with  him,  and  in  less  than  a  year  he, 
too,  went  to  his  long  rest. 

"  My  nephew,  Joseph  Jefferson  {Rip  Van  Winkle), 
bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  my  father.  He  was 
a  wonderfully  precocious  child :  all  .who.  remember 
his  childhood  say  this.  When  little  more  than  two 
years  old  he  gave  an  imitation  of  Fletcher,  the  statue 
man,  and  it  was  indeed  an  astonishing  feat.  My 
mother  chanced  to  notice  the  child  in  a  comer  of  the 
room  trying  this  experiment,  and  she  called  him  to  her 
side,  and  found  that  he  had  got  all  the  "  business  "  of 
the  statues,  though  he  could  not  have  pronounced  the 
name  of  one  of  them.  She  made  him  a  dress,  similar 
to  that  worn  by  Fletcher,  and  he  actually  gave  these 
imitations  upon  the  stage  when  only  three  years  old.* 
Rice  came  to  Washington  to  sing  his  Jim  Crow  songs, 
and  little  Joe  caught  them  up  directly,  and,  in  his  baby 
voice,  sung  the  songs,  although  he  could  not  correctly 
pronounce  the  words  that  he  sung.  His  taste  for  draw- 
ing and  painting  showed  itself  at  an  early  age.  My 
father  could  not  keep  his  drawing-box  away  from  the 
boy.  Joe  was  in  his  fourth  year  when  my  father  died. 
The  old  gentleman  idolized  him.  I  remember  his 
almost  daily  salutation  would  be,  'Joe,  where 's  my 
paint  ?  '  '  It 's  gone,'  said  the  child.  '  Yes,  sir,  I  know 
it 's  gone  ;  but  where?  where?  '  '  Him  lost,'  was  Joe's 
reply.  '  Yes,  sir,  I  know  it's  lost  and  gone;  but  how 
and  where?'  The  boy  would  look  up,  roguishly,  and 
say,  'Him  hook  urn';  and  then  his  grandfather  would 

*  At  this  age  (three   he  made  his  first  ap]  been  taken 

on,  at  the  Washington  Theatre,  as  Cora's  child,  in  "  Pizarro."—  W.  W. 


124 


THE   JEFFERSONS. 


prophesy  what  a  great  artist  that  child  would  one 
day  become,  and  say  that  he  was  '  the  greatest  boy 
in  the  world,'  and  let  him  destroy  any  amount  of  any- 
thing he  chose.  The  inheritance  of  talent  was  never 
more  clearjy  shown  than  in  the  case  of  the  present 
Joseph  Jefferson :  his  habits,  his  tastes,  his  acting, 
all  he  is  and  does  seems  just  a  reiteration  of  his 
grandfather." 

Note.  —  A  few  omissions  of  essential  annotation  in  the  foregoing 
chapter  are  repaired  here.  —  Richard  Suett  died  in  1805,  at  a  ripe  age. 
The  date  of  his  birth  is  not  recorded.  Anecdotes  of  him  may  be  found 
in  Bernard's  "  Retrospections."  Charles  Lamb  says  that  "  Shakespeare 
foresaw  him  when  he  framed  his  fools  and  jesters."  —  C.  S.  Powell,  the 
Boston  manager,  died  in  Halifax,  in  1810.  Sf  Powell,  his  brother,  died 
in  Boston,  April  8th,  1821,  aged  sixty-three.  —  The  old  Chestnut  Street 
Theatre  was  situated  in  Chestnut  Street,  next  to  the  west  corner  of 
Sixth  Street.  Warren,  the  manager,  lived  at  No.  12  (now  712)  Sanson 
Street,  and  that  was  the  birth-place  of  William  Warren,  of  the  Boston 
stage.  —  Mrs.  Wilmot,  originally  Miss  Webb,  was  first  known  as  Mrs. 
Marshall.  She  came  over  from  England  in  1792,  with  Marshall,  and 
both  were  speedily  accepted  as  favorites.  Mrs.  Marshall  was  reputed 
the  best  chambermaid  actress  of  her  time.  "  A  pretty  little  woman," 
says  Dunlap,  "and  a  most  charming  actress  in  the  Pickles  and  romj  s 
of  the  drama."  She  was  much  admired  by  Washington.  She  returned 
to  England,  left  Marshall,  wedded  Wilmot,  came  back  to  America,  and 
here  died.  —  James  Fennell,  the  tragedian,  was  born  in  London,  Dec.  11, 
1766;  made  his  appearance  on  the  American  stage  in  1794  ;  was  excel- 
lent in  Zanga  and  Glcnalvon  ;  lived  a  wild  life,  and  wrote  an  "  Apology  " 
for  it  ;  and  died  in  Philadelphia,  a  pitiable  imbecile,  in  1S16.  —  William 
Francis,  1757,  1826,  was  a  superior  representative  of  old  men  in  comedy, 
such  as  Sir  George  Thunder.  —  Thomas  Abthorpe  Cooper,  a  great 
tragic  actor,  and  one  of  the  most  admired  gentlemen  of  his  day,  was 
born  in  1776,  and  died  in  1849.  His  grave  is  at  Bristol,  Pennsylvania. 
—  A  fine  portrait  of  Jefferson  the  Second,  as  Solus,  may  be  found  in 
the  Wemyss  collection  of  theatrical  portraits.  —  "  The  Woodman's 
Hut "  is  a  melo-drama,  by  Samuel  James  Arnold,  sen  of  Dr.  Arnold, 
the  musician,  first  produced  at  Drury  Lane,  April  12th,  1814.  —  "Zem- 


JEFFERSON  THE  SECOND.  125 

buca"  is  a  melo-drama,  by  Isaac  Pocock,  first  produced  March  27th, 
1  Si 5,  at  Covent  Garden.  Emery  and  Liston  were  in  the  first  cast.  — 
"  The  Green  Man"  is  a  three-act  comedy  by  Richard  Jones,  light 
comedian,  first  produced  August  ^th,  181S,  at  the  Haymarket. — 
In  "  The  Tempest,"  at  Boston,  in  1 795,  Mr.  Jefferson  acted  Mustachio,  a 
sailor  mate  This  part  is  one  of  several  interpolations,  made  by  Dryden 
and  Davenant,  in  their  version  of  Shakespeare's  comedy,  acted  at  Dorset 
Gardens,  and  published  in  1670.  A  sister  to  Miranda,  a  sister  to 
Caliban,  and  a  youth  who  has  never  seen  a  woman,  are  among  the 
persons  introduced.  This  piece  was  long  in  use,  but  ultimately  gave 
place  to  John  Philip  Kemble's  adaptations,  made  in  1789  and  1S06. 
•  Garrick  made  an  opera  of  "  The  Tempest  " ;  so  did  Sheridan  ;  and 
there  is  a  rhymed  version  of  it  by  Thomas  Dibdin.  —  William  War- 
ren (see  Dedication,  and  page  56),  made  his  first  appearance  on  the 
stage,  in  1S32,  at  the  Arch  Street  Theatre,  Philadelphia,  enacting  Yottng 
Norval,  in  Home's  tragedy  of  "Douglas."  He  subsequently  led  a 
roving  theatrical  life,  in  the  West,  and  at  length  settled  in  Buffalo, 
where  he  was  a  favorite  comedian,  in  Rice's  Eagle  Theatre.  From 
there  he  went  to  Boston,  in  1846,  and  for  twenty  weeks  was  at  the 
Howard  Athenaeum,  under  J.  H.  Hackett's  management.  In  August 
1S47,  he  joined  the  Boston  Museum,  with  which  theatre  he  has  ever 
since  been  connected,  and  where  he  has  acted  almost  all  the  chief  parts, 
of  their  day,  in  the  lines  of  low  and  eccentric  comedy  and  old 
men.  The  finest  Touchstone  on  the  stage  of  this  period — grave, 
quaint,  and  sadly  thoughtful  behind  the  smile  and  the  jest  —  an  ad- 
mirable  Polonius,  great  in  Sir  Peter  Teazle,  and  of  powers  that  range 
easily  from  Caleb  Plummet  to  Ecclcs,  and  are  adequate  to  both  ex- 
tremes of  comic  eccentricity  and  melting  pathos,  this  comedian  presents 
a  shining  exemplification  of  high  and  versatile  abilities  worthily  used, 
and  brilliant  laurels  modestly  worn.  —  \Y.  W. 


126  THE  JEFFERSONS. 


JEFFERSON    THE    SECOND    AND    FRANCIS. 

"  My  next  excursion  was  to  Alexandria,  where  I  completed 
my  engagements  under  the  direction  of  Messrs.  Francis  and 
Jefferson.  I  cannot  reflect  on  the  conduct  of  these  gentlemen 
without  comparing  it  with  my  own  :  nothing  has  impeached 
their  characters  during  their  residence  in  the  United  States, 
but  much  has  occurred  to  exalt  them.  No  instability  has 
marked  their  dispositions  ;  with  steady  industry,  perseverance, 
and  prudence,  they  have  attached  themselves  closely  to  the 
profession  they  had  chosen  and  the  city  which  was  originally 
their  promised  land,  and  in  which  they  are  now  (1813)  in 
happy  possession  of  competency  and  respect ;  —  the  one,  the 
friend  and  protector  of  the  orphan ;  the  other,  the  father  of  a 
numerous  family,  under  the  guardianship  of  himself  and  his 
amiable  consort,  well  educated  and  well  instructed.  Neither 
one  nor  the  other  entered  this  new  world  (they  will  pardon 
the  remark)  with  the  advantages  I  possessed,  nor  has  either  of 
them  received  a  fourth  part  of  the  sum  of  money  that  I  have, 
from  the  patronage  of  Americans.  What,  then,  has  made 
them  rich  ?  Prudence.  What  has  reduced  my  state  ?  Impru- 
dence. Jefferson  !  the  amiable  father  of  an  amiable  offspring ; 
Francis !  the  protector  of  the  unprotected,  permit  me  to  offer 
you,  poor  as  it  is,  my  homage."  —  An  Apology  for  the  Life  of 
James  Fennel!,  pp.  418,  419. 


ELIZABETH     JEFFERSON. 

[Mrs.  C.  J.  B.  FISHER.] 


We  are  a  queen  (or  long  have  dreamed  so),  certain 

The  daughter  of  a  king" 

Shakespeare. 


ELIZABETH   JEFFERSON. 


The  reminiscences  of  this  lady  have  been  incorpo- 
rated into  the  sketch  of  her  father,  and  it  will  not  be 
amiss  to  supplement  them  with  some  account  of  their 
author.  Elizabeth  Jefferson  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
about  the  year  1810,  and  in  the  spring  of  1S27,  when 
seventeen  years  of  age,  was  brought  out  at  the  Chest- 
nut Street  Theatre  as  Rosina,  in  "  The  Spanish  Bar- 
ber." *  She  had  a  lovely  voice,  and  had  been  carefully 
instructed  and  trained  in  music  ;  but  her  timidity  and 
inexperience  on  the  first  night  marred  her  efforts,  and 
this  appearance  was  accounted  a  failure.  Cowell,  who 
preceded  Wemyss  in  the  stage  management  of  the 
Chestnut,  when  Warren  and  Wood  dissolved  their 
partnership,  in  1826,  had  the  superintendence  of  this 
debut,  and  he  has  left  this  record  of  it,  in  his  "  Thirty 
Years,"  Vol.  II.  p.  9:  — 

"  During  this  season,  1826-27, 1  had  the  gratification 
of  introducing  two  of  the  '  fairest  of  creation,'  as  can- 
didates for  histrionic  fame  —  a  daughter  of  Old  Warren, 
and  a  daughter  of  Old  Jefferson.  They  were  cousins, 
and  about  the  same  age.     Hetty  Warren  had  decidedly 

*  "  The  Spanish  Barber."  Comedy,  with  songs,  by  George  Colman. 
Pa  market,  1777.  Taken  from  "  Le  Barbicre  de  Seville,"  by  P.  A.  C. 
de  Beaumarchais.  —  W.  W. 


I30  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

the  best  of  the  race  for  favor  at  the  start,  but  Elizabeth 
Jefferson  soon  shot  ahead,  and  maintained  a  decided 
superiority.  Poor  girls  !  They  were  both  born  and 
educated  in  affluence,  and  both  lived  to  see  their  par- 
ents sink  to  the  grave  in  comparative  poverty.  Hetty 
married  a  big  man  named  Willis  —  a  very  talented  mu- 
sician —  much  against  the  will  of  her  doting  father ; 
and,  like  most  arrangements  of  the  kind,  it  proved  a 
sorry  one.  Elizabeth  became  the  wife  of  Sam  Chap- 
man, in  1828.  He  was  a  very  worthy  fellow,  with  both 
tact  and  talent  in  his  favor,  and  her  lot  promised  un- 
bounded happiness." 

Wemyss,  who  saw  this  first  appearance,  gives  con- 
current testimony  as  to  the  attempt  and  its  results,  in 
the  thirteenth  chapter  of  his  "  Theatrical  Biography  "  : 
"  For  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose  name  was 
sure  to  fill  the  house,  his  daughter,  Miss  E.  Jefferson, 
made  her  first  appearance  upon  any  stage  as  Rosina,  in 
'The  Spanish  Barber.'  If  Miss  Warren  was  the  best 
debutante  I  had  ever  seen,  Miss  Jefferson  was  decidedly 
the  worst.  She  spoke  so  low,  and  so  completely  lost  all 
self-possession,  that,  had  it  not  been  for  her  father, 
she  would  scarcely  have  escaped  derision.  The  only  re- 
deeming point  was  her  song  of  "An  old  Man  would  be 
Wooing,"  in  which  she  was  feebly  encored.  From  such 
an  unfavorable  beginning  little  was  to  be  expected.  But, 
in  the  race  commenced  between  Miss  Warren  and  her- 
self, although  distanced  in  the  first  attempt,  she  soon 
outstripped  her  rival  in  her  future  career,  rising  step  by 
step,  until  she  became,  as  Mrs.  S.  Chapman,  the  lead- 
ing actress  of  the  American  stage,  in  the  Park  Theatre 


ELIZABE  TH  JEFFERSON.  \  3  1 

of  New  York,  justly  admired  by  every  frequenter  of  the 
theatre." 

After  this  dull  beginning  Miss  Jefferson  put  forth  her 
energies  with  redoubled  exertion,  and  —  at  the  Chest- 
nut, and  in  those  wandering  theatrical  expeditions  with 
which  her  renowned  father  felt  constrained  to  close  his 
professional  career  —  she  soon  acquired  the  experience 
essential  to  her  success.  Thus  equipped  she  came  for- 
ward at  the  Park  Theatre,  New  York,  on  September 
1  st,  1834,  in  the  character  of  Ophelia;  and  here  she 
was  almost  immediately  accepted  as  an  actress  of  the 
finest  powers  and  the  foremost  rank.  She  had  in 
the  mean  time  been  married,  in  Philadelphia,  to  Mr. 
Samuel  Chapman,  a  young  and  clever  actor,  who 
seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  with  "  Old  Jefferson  "  ; 
but  he  had  died  *  shortly  after  their  marriage,  and  she 
was  now  a  widow.  The  bills  announced  her  as  Mrs.  S. 
Chapman.  The  stock  company  in  which  she  took  her 
place  included  Messrs.  John  K.  Mason,  H.  B.  Harri- 
son, John  H.  Clarke,  John  Jones,  Peter  Richings,  Henry 
Placide,  W.  H.  Latham,  John  Fisher,  T.  H.  Blakeley, 
William  Wheatley,  Thomas  Placide,  Gilbert  Nexsen,  J. 

*  Samuel  Chapman.  —  "  The  Reading  mail  stage,  with  nine  male 
passengers  and  the  driver,  was  stopped  by  three  foot-pads,  a  few  miles 
from  Philadelphia,  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  .  .  .  Chapman,  who  was 
extremely  clever  at  dramatizing  local  matters,  took  a  ride  out  to  the 
scene  of  the  robbery,  the  better  to  regulate  the  action  of  a  piece  he  was 
preparing  on  the  subject,  was  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  slightly  grazed 
his  shoulder.  He  had  to  wear  that  night  a  suit  of  brass  armor,  and,  the 
weather  being  excessively  hot,  he  wore  it  next  his  skin,  which  increased 
the  excoriation,  and  it  was  supposed  the  verdigris  had  poisoned  the 
wound.  At  any  rate,  he  died  in  a  week  after  the  accident"  ...  —  Cow- 
cWs  Thirty  Years,  Vol.  2d,  chapter  <jth. 


132  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

Povey, Russell,  and  Hayden,  together  with 

the  lovely  Mrs.  Gurner,  Mrs.  Wheatley,  Mrs.  Vernon, 
Mrs.  Harrison,  Mrs.  Durie,  Mrs.  Archer,  and  the 
Misses  Turnbull.  J.  W.  Wallack  acted  Hamlet,  to  open 
the  season,  and  in  its  course  Sheridan  Knowles  appeared 
in  a  round  of  his  own  characters.  Mrs.  Chapman's  suc- 
cess was  uncommonly  brilliant.  "  No  actress  who  ever 
preceded  or  followed  her  on  the  Park  stage,"  says  Mr. 
Ireland,  "  excelled  her  in  general  ability,  and  she  was 
the  last  stock  actress  attached  to  the  establishment  fully 
competent  to  sustain  equally  well  the  leading  characters 
in  the  most  opposite  walks  of  the  drama.  Devoid  of 
stage  trickery,  artless,  unaffected,  and  perfectly  true  to 
nature,  not  beautiful  in  feature,  but  with  a  countenance 
beaming  with  beauty  of  expression,  in  whatever  charac- 
ter cast  she  always  succeeded  in  throwing  a  peculiar 
charm  around  it,  and  in  making  herself  admired  and 
appreciated.  Her  performance  of  Julia,  in  'The 
Hunchback,'  first  stamped  her  reputation  as  an  artist 
of  the  highest  rank.  Her  engagement  was  a  continued 
triumph,  and  her  retirement  from  the  stage,  in  the 
spring  of  1835,  on  her  marriage  with  Mr.  Richardson, 
a  source  of  deep  and  earnest  regret." 

The  marriage  to  which  Mr.  Ireland  thus  refers  was 
contracted  with  Mr.  Augustus  Richardson,  of  Baltimore. 
Cowell  mentions  him,  as  "  a  clever  young  printer," 
whom  he  met,  in  company  with  Junius  Brutus  Booth, 
at  Annapolis,  in  1829.  Mr.  Richardson,  like  his  mat- 
rimonial predecessor,  died  suddenly,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  an  accidental  fall ;  and  his  widow,  returning 
to  the  stage,  was  again  seen  at  the  old  Park.     She  sub- 


ELIZABETH  JEFFERSON.  I  33 

sequently  went  into  the  South,  joining  her  brother  (Jef- 
ferson the  Third)  and  other  relatives  and  connections  ; 
and,  after  her  brother's  death,  in  1842,  she  managed  for 
a  time  the  theatre  at  Mobile ;  and  at  this  place,  in 
1S49,  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Charles  J.  B.  Fisher, 
whose  death,  in  1S59,  aged  fifty-four,  left  her  again  a 
widow.  These  bereavements  were  not  her  worst  af- 
flictions. One  of  her  sons  was  murdered  in  New  Or- 
leans, and  another  (Vernon  by  name)  became  insane 
from  a  fall,  and,  after  lingering  for  many  years  in  abject 
lunacy,  expired  in  an  asylum.  Her  own  death  is  stated, 
in  Brown's  "  History  of  the  American  Stage  "  (p.  310), 
to  have  occurred  in  1853,  but  this  was  an  error.  A 
strong  will,  an  intrepid  spirit,  and  a  magnificent  consti- 
tution, have  sustained  her  to  the  present  time  in  pa- 
tience and  steadfast  industry.  For  many  years  this 
lady  has  been  a  teacher  of  music ;  and  one  of  her 
daughters  —  Miss  Clara  Fisher,  bearing  the  name  of 
her  famous  aunt,  now  Mrs.  Maeder  —  has  been  favor- 
ably known  on  the  New  York  stage  as  a  vocalist. 
Charles  J.  B.  Fisher's  first  appearance  on  any  stage 
was  made  at  the  Mobile  Theatre,  in  1842,  as  Dazzle, 
in  "  London  Assurance." 

The  musical  style  of  Elizabeth  Richardson  was  based 
on  that  of  the  beautiful  Garcia  (Mine.  Malibran),  whom 
she  saw  at  the  New  York  Park  Theatre  in  the  season  of 
1825,  having  been  sent  over  from  Philadelphia  expressly 
to  observe  and  study  this  incomparable  model.  When 
only  eleven  years  of  age  she  was  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  the  "  Musical  bund  Society,"  of  Philadel- 
phia.    John  Sinclair,  the  famous  vocalist,  father  of  the 


134  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

lady  who  became  the  wife  of  Edwin  Forrest,  repeatedly 
said  that  he  considered  her  the  best  singer  in  America, 
and  more  than  once  offered  her  a  star  position  in  his 
musical  company.  Had  she  but  adhered  to  either  the 
lyric  or  dramatic  stage,  and  resisted  the  allurements  of 
ideal  domesticity,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  eminence  she 
might  have  reached.  Long  before  she  came  to  the 
Park  Theatre,  Henry  J.  Finn,  the  comedian,  had  as- 
sured Edmund  Simpson,  the  manager,  that  she  was 
beyond  all  rivalry  as  a  comedy  actress  ;  and  Finn  had 
already  offered  her  the  leading  business,  on  her  own 
terms,  at  the  St.  Charles  Theatre,  New  Orleans.  Ty- 
rone Power  had  also  spoken  of  her  with  unstinted  ad- 
miration. Edwin  Forrest,  in  whose  "  support  "  she  had 
acted  at  Washington,  declared  her  to  be  the  best  tragic 
actress  on  the  stage  :  "  She  is  the  best  Lady  Macbeth 
we  have,"  he  said,  "and  the  only  Pauline."  Some- 
body asked  Simpson  one  day  how  he  had  happened  to 
hear  of  her  as  an  actress.  "  I  have  heard  of  nobody 
else  for  two  years,"  answered  the  manager  —  to  whom, 
indeed,  it  seemed  that  the  Admirable  Crichton  had  come 
again,  in  petticoats.  During  the  Park  engagement  of 
Sheridan  Knowles  she  acted  in  all  the  pieces  produced 
for  him,  —  "  The  Hunchback,"  "  William  Tell,"  "Vir- 
ginia," "The  Wife,"  etc., —  and  the  famous  author 
was  fascinated  with  her  loveliness  and  her  genius. 
Ever  afterward,  in  writing  to  her  from  England,  he  ad- 
dressed her  as  Lady  Julia  Rochdale,  and  signed  his  let- 
ters "  Your  father,  Walter."  It  was  as  Julia  that  she 
made  her  first  hit  at  the  Park  ;  and  her  popularity  there 
was  so  great  that  every  omission  of  her  name  from 


ELIZABETH  JEFFERSON.  1 35 

the  bill  would  cause  a  serious  depression  in  the  receipts. 
Yet  this  actress  was  only  a  member  of  the  stock  com- 
pany, receiving  a  salary  of  $30  a  week  ;  and  the  receipts 
from  her  farewell  benefit  performance  were  only  $882. 
She  was  the  original,  in  America,  of  many  of  the  first 
and  finest  characters  in  comedy,  vaudeville,  and  bur- 
lesque—  of  Julia,  in  "The  Hunchback,"  Pauline,  in 
"  The  Lady  of  Lyons,"  Marianne,  in  "  The  Wife,"  Ger- 
trude, in  "  The  Loan  of  a  Lover,"  Bess,  in  "  The  Beg- 
gar of  Bethnal  Green,"  LyJia,  in  "The  Love  Chase," 
Eliza,  in  "  The  Dumb  Belle,"  Lissette  Gerstein,  in  "  The 
Swiss  Cottage,"  Gabrielle,  in  "Tom  Noddy's  Secret," 
Perseus,  in  "  The  Deep,  Deep  Sea,"  Oliver  Twist,  in 
the  play  of  that  name,  made  from  the  novel  by  Charles 
Dickens,  and  Smike,  in  "  Nicholas  Nickleby,"  from  the 
same  author.  Among  her  other  characters  were  Amina, 
Rosina,  Cinderella,  Vettoria,  in  "  The  Knight  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,"  Madame  dc  Manneville,  in  "  Married 
Lovers,"  Therese,  in  "  Secret  Service,"  Esmeralda,  m 
"The  Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame,"  Mrs.  Lynx,  in 
"Married  Life,"  Mrs.  Bud,  in  "My  Wife's  Mother," 
Mimi.  in  "  The  Pet  of  the  Petticoats,"  Helen  Worrett, 
Myrtillo,  in  "  The  Broken  Sword,"  Maria,  in  "  Of  Age 
To-morrow,"  and  Jenny,  in  "The  Widow's  Victim." 
The  complete  list  of  her  representations  would  fill 
many  pages.  Her  range  extended  from  Lady  Macbeth 
to  Little  Pickle,  and  she  was  excellent  in  all  that  she 
attempted.  Time  makes  a  sad  havoc  with  beauty  and 
fame.  In  other  years,  when  this  lady  walked  in  Broad- 
way, her  footsteps  were  followed  by  the  admiring  glances 
of  hundreds  of  worshippers.     To-day  her  slight  and 


136 


THE  JEFFERSONS. 


faded  figure,  draped  in  its  garments  of  grief,  flits  by  un- 
noticed in  the  crowd.  It  would  be  difficult  to  point  to 
a  career  which  better  illustrates  than  this  one  the  muta- 
bility of  human  happiness  and  worldly  fortune  and  the 
evanescent  character  of  theatrical  renown. 


JEFFERSON    THE    THIRD. 
1804- 1842. 


"  He  is  insensibly  subdued 
To  settled  quiet ;  he  is  one  by  whom 
All  effort  seems  forgotten  ;  one  to  whom 
Long  patience  hath  such  mild  composure  ^recii 
That  patience  now  doth  seem  a  thing  of  which 
He  hath  no  need." 

' '  He  is  retired  as  noontide  dew 

Or  fountain  in  a  noon-day  grove  ; 
And  you  must  love  him  ere  to  you 
He  will  seem  "worthy  of  your  love." 

Wordsworth. 


JEFFERSON    THE    THIRD. 


Tins  was  an  uneventful  life,  and  the  story  of  it  takes 
the  form  of  a  tribute  to  singular  beauty  and  worth  of 
personal  character  rather  than  of  a  narrative  of  achieve- 
ments that  concerned  the  world.  Joseph  Jefferson,  the 
third  of  this  line  of  actors,  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1804,  and  in  that  city  he  received  his  education  and 
grew  to  manhood.  While  a  boy  he  did  nut  evince  a 
taste  for  the  stage,  but  preferred  the  study  of  architec- 
ture and  drawing ;  and  this  he  pursued  diligently  and 
with  success.  In  these  branches,  and  also  in  painting, 
he  was  instructed  by  Coyle,*  an  English  scenic  artist  of 
repute  at  that  period.  There  is  no  positive  record  of 
his  first  appearances  upon  the  stage,  but  it  is  remem- 
bered that  he  sometimes  played  little  parts,  such  as  the 
First  Murderer  in  "  Mat  beth,"  while  yet  a  youth.  His 
name  appears  on  the  play-bills  of  the  Chestnut  Street 
Theatre  as  early  as  1N14,  and  it  is  known  that  when 
finally  he  had  adopted  the  dramatic  profession  he  made 
himself  a  good  actor  in  the  line  of  old  men.  In  1824 
he  was  a  member  of  the  dramatic  company  of  the  Chat- 

*  Rorkrt  ('(«',  i  1  was  killed  by  an  accidental  fall  from  a  wagon,  his 
horse  having  suddenl)  started  in  fright.     A  performance  for  the  b 
of  his  widow  occurred  at  the  Bowery  Theatre,  New  York,  August  22d, 
rS27.  —  W.  W. 


140  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

ham  Garden  Theatre,  New  York,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Henry  Barriere.  This  company  comprised 
Henry  Wallack,  Geo.  H.  Barrett,  Thomas  Burke,  Alex- 
ander Simpson,  W.  Robertson,  Henry  George  More- 
land,  John  A.  Stone  (who  afterwards  wrote  "  Metamora," 
etc.),  A.  J.  Allen,  W.  Anderson,  C.  Durang,  Spiller,  Som- 
erville,  Williamson,  Collins,  and  Oliff  (once  prompter 
at  the  old  Park,  and  whose  descendants  are  now  (1881) 
esteemed  residents  of  Castleton,  Staten  Island),  with 
Thomas  Kilner  for  stage-manager.  The  ladies  were 
Mrs.  Entwistle  (who  had  been  Mrs.  Mason,  and  who 
became  Mrs.  Crooke),  Miss  Henry  (afterwards  famous 
as  Mrs.  G.  H.  Barrett),  Mrs.  Caroline  Placide  Waring, 
Mrs.  T.  Burke,  Mrs.  Walstein,  Mrs.  C.  Durang,  Mrs. 
H.  Wallack,  Mrs.  Kilner,  Mrs.  Allen,  Mrs.  Spiller,  Mrs. 
P.  M.  Clark,  and  Miss  Oliff.  The  theatre  was  opened 
that  season  (its  third)  with  "The  Soldier's  Daughter" 
and  "  Raising  the  Wind,"  and  the  casts  of  the  night, 
May  17th,  set  Jefferson's  name  against  the  characters 
of  Woodlcy  and  Fainwould.  His  acting  on  this  and 
subsequent  occasions  was  thought  to  give  a  promise 
of  excellence.  He  did  not  long  remain  in  New  York, 
but  went  back  to  Philadelphia ;  and  there,  and  in 
Washington,  Baltimore,  and  the  region  round  about, 
pursued,  discursively,  his  theatrical  labors.  In  1826,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Thomas 
Burke,  whom  he  had  first  met  at  the  Chatham  Garden 
Theatre,  and  who  was  eight  years  his  senior.  This  was 
a  "  love-match,"  and  the  marriage  proved  exceptionally 
happy  and  fortunate.  After  his  father  quitted  Philadel- 
phia, in  1 S 29-30,  he  managed  for  the  old  gentleman,  in 


JEFFERSON  THE  THIRD.  141 

Washington,  Lancaster,  Harrisburg,  and  other  cities, 
and  he  remained  with  him  till  the  last.     During  the 
season  of  1831-32  he  managed  the  theatre  in  Wash- 
ington.    During  the  seasons  of  1835-37  he  was  con- 
nected, successively,  with  the  Franklin  Theatre,  at  No. 
175  Chatham  Street,  New  York,  and  with  Niblo's  Gar- 
den.    At  the  Franklin  he  was  scene-painter  as  well  as 
actor.      "  Mobb  the   Outlaw,  or  Jemmy  Twitcher  in 
France"   ("Robert  Macaire "),  was  given  there,  on 
May  2d,  1S36,  with  new  scenery  by  him.     On   May 
25th  he  acted  King  Arthur,  in  the  travestie  of  "Tom 
Thumb."     On  June  1st  "The  Hunchback"  was  per- 
formed for  his  benefit,  with  his  sister  Elizabeth  as  Julia, 
and  with  his  wife  in  the  bill,  for  a  song.    The  latter  had 
been  absent  about  ten  years  from  the  New  York  stage, 
and  it  was  now  observed  that  her  voice  and  person  had 
been  impaired  by  the  ravages  of  time.     On  March  1st, 
1837,  Jefferson  took  another  benefit,  the  programme 
comprising  "The   Lady  of  the    Lake,"   "The   Forty 
Thieves,"  and  a  vaudeville  entitled  "The  Welsh  Girl," 
in  the  latter  of  which  pieces  he  represented  a  person- 
age styled  Sir  Owen  Ap  Griffith.     Mrs.  Jefferson  ap- 
peared as  Blanche  of  D  von,  and  as  Morgiana.    Charles 
Burke,  her  son,  then  a  lad  of  fifteen,  took  part  in  the 
exi  n  ises,  singing  a  song  entitled  "The  Beautiful  Boy." 
Jefferson  the  Fourth,  then  eight  years  old,  was  present 
at  this  performance,     for  a  few  weeks,  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1837,  Jefferson   and  John   Sefton  managed  a 
vaudeville  compan)  at   Niblo's,  and  produced  musical 
farces.     Mrs.  Harrison,  Mrs.  Bailey,  Mrs.  Knight,  Mrs. 
Gurner,  Mrs.  Henry.  Mrs.  Watts,  Mrs.  Maeder  (Clara 


142  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Fisher),  Mrs.  Richardson,  Miss  Jane  Anderson,  Alexina 
Fisher  (afterwards  Mrs.  Lewis  Baker),  and  Miss  De 
Bar  (afterwards  Mrs.  J.  B.  Booth,  Jr.),  appeared  in  this 
troupe,  and  the  males  were  Jefferson,  Sefton,  Plumer, 
Henry,  Th.  Bishop,  Thayer,  Lewellen,  Thoman,  J.  W. 
Wallack,  Jr.,  Edwin,  Latham,  and  P.  Williams.  The 
season  ended  on  September  16th,  1837,  and  that  proved 
Jefferson's  farewell  of  the  New  York  stage.  He  pro- 
ceeded with  his  family  to  Chicago,  there  joining  his 
brother-in-law,  Alexander  Mackenzie  ;  and  the  rest  of 
his  career — made  up  of  much  wandering  and  many 
vicissitudes  —  was  accomplished  in  the  West  and  South, 
through  an  exceedingly  primitive  period  of  the  Ameri- 
can theatre.  He  seldom  met  with  prosperity,  but  he 
seems  to  have  possessed  the  true  Mark  Tapley  tem- 
perament, and  his  spirits  always  rose  when  his  fortunes 
were  at  the  worst.  He  was  manager,  actor,  scene- 
painter,  stage-carpenter,  —  anything  and  everything 
connected  with  the  art  and  business  of  the  stage.  He 
understood  it  all,  and  in  every  relation  that  he  sustained 
toward  it  he  was  faithful,  thorough,  and  adequate  to 
his  duties.  The  dramatic  chronicles  give  but  little  at- 
tention to  his  proceedings ;  yet  they  bear  one  concur- 
rent and  invariable  testimony  to  his  personal  charm, 
winning  simplicity,  and  intellectual  and  moral  worth. 
His  trials  were  bravely  met ;  his  hardships  were  pa- 
tiently borne  ;  and,  to  the  end,  he  labored  in  steadfast 
cheerfulness  and  hope,  making  good  use  of  his  talents 
and  opportunities,  and  never  repining  at  his  lot. 

"The  father  of  our  Rip    Van  Winkle"  writes  the 
veteran  manager,  John  T.  Ford,  "  was  one  of  the  most 


JEFFERSON  THE   THIRD.  1 43 

lovable  men  that  ever  lived.  He  acted  occasionally, 
painted  almost  constantly,  and  when  he  had  a  theatre, 
as  sometimes  happened,  he  managed  his  business  with 
that  careless  amiability,  almost  amounting  to  weakness, 
that  was  inseparable  from  his  nature.  Once,  when  he 
was  managing  in  Washington,  he  was  so  poor  that, 
wanting  Edwin  Forrest  to  act  there,  he  had  to  walk  to 
Baltimore,  forty  miles,  and  did  so,  to  solicit  him.  He 
enjoyed  life,  in  a  dreamy  way,  and  his  only  anxiety  was 
for  his  children." 

Another  kindly  picture  of  him  is  afforded  in  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  by  his  sister  Elizabeth  :  "  My  brother 
Joe  was  a  gentle,  good  man,  true  and  kind  in  every  re- 
lation of  life.  He  was  very  like  his  father,  —  so  much 
so  that,  in  the  play  of  '  The  Exile,'  *  where  the  latter  had 
to  dance  in  domino,  Joe  would  often,  to  save  his  father 
the  trouble,  put  on  the  dress  and  dance  the  quadrille, 
and  no  spectator  could  tell  the  difference,  or  was  aware 
of  the  change  of  persons.  He  was  fond  of  his  fireside, 
ne  in  adversity,  humble  in  prosperity,  affectionate 
in  temperament,  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 
Painting  was  his  great  passion.  He  became  a  very 
good  actor  in  old  men.  1  [e  was  an  inveterate  quiz.  I 
have  seen  him,  —  when  he  was  manager  as  well  as  ac- 
tor, —  after  making  some  sort  of  a  mistake  on  the  stage, 
fix  his  composed  and  solemn  gaze  magisterially  upon 
some  one  of  the  supers,  till  the  poor  fellow  came  really 
to  think  that  the  blunder  had  been  made  by  himself, 
and  trembled  lest  he  might  be  at  once  dis<  barged.    Joe 

*  "The   I  oi    T!u    Desert  of  Siberia."     Musical  Play,  in  three 

acts.   By  Frederic  Reynolds.  Covent  Garden,  Nov.  10th,  1S1S.  —  YV.YV. 


144  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

married  Mrs.  Burke,  who  was  a  great  singer.  No  voice 
that  I  ever  heard  could  compare  with  hers,  except,  pos- 
sibly, that  of  Parepa.  My  father  feared  that,  as  Joe 
was  so  much  younger  than  his  wife,  the  match  might 
not  turn  out  well ;  but  there  never  was  a  happier 
marriage.  Indeed,  it  could  not  be  otherwise  ;  for  Joe 
was  all  sunshine,  and  she  loved  him,  and  that  says 
all." 

Ireland  speaks  of  Jefferson  as  "  admirably  costumed 
and  skilfully  made  up,  appearing  at  times  the  living  por- 
trait of  his  father  "  ;  but  intimates  that,  as  an  actor,  he 
did  not  fulfil  the  promise  of  his  early  efforts.  The  truth 
is  that  he  was  a  quiet,  unobtrusive,  unambitious  gentle- 
man ;  and  the  fact  that  he  did  not  take  a  high  rank  in 
the  public  estimation  was  mainly  because  he  did  not 
care  to  make  the  essential  effort.  His  philosophic, 
drifting,  serene  disposition  is  aptly  illustrated  in  this 
incident.  An  old  friend  of  his,  hearing  that  he  had  met 
with  great  misfortune  in  business,  and,  in  fact,  become 
bankrupt,  called  at  his  dwelling  to  cheer  him,  and  was 
told  by  Mrs.  Jefferson  that  her  husband  had  gone  a  fish- 
ing. He  expressed  surprise,  and,  with  some  vague  ap- 
prehension that  all  might  not  be  well,  went  down  to  the 
river  in  search  of  him.  The  object  of  his  solicitude 
was  soon  found,  sitting  composedly  in  a  shady  nook  on 
the  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  humming  a  pleasant  air,  and 
sketching  the  ruins  of  a  tumble-down  mill  on  the  oppo- 
site shore.  Cordial  greetings  exchanged,  the  sympa- 
thetic visitor  could  not  conceal  his  astonishment  that  a 
crushing  misfortune  should  be  accepted  so  cheerfully. 
"  Not  at  all,"  said  Jefferson  ;  "  I  have  lost  everything, 


JEFFERSON  THE    THIRD.  145 

and  I  am  so  poor  now  that  I  really  cannot  afford  to  let 
anything  worry  me." 

A  few  of  the  characters  that  were  acted  by  Jefferson 
the  Third  are  specified  in  the  subjoined  list :  — 

Polonins.     In  the  unconsciously  humorous  sapience  and  half- 
senile  prolixity  of  this  part  he  was  exceptionally  excellent. 

Sir  Robert  Bramble,  in  "The  Poor  Gentleman." 

Dogberry,  in  "  .Much  Ado  About  Nothing." 

Crabtree,  in  "The  School  For  Scandal." 

Admiral  Franklin,  in  "  Sweethearts  and  Wives." 

Mr.  Coddle,  in  "  .Married  Life." 

The  Firs/  Witch,  in  "  Macbeth." 

King  Arthur,  in  "Tom  Thumb." 

M.  dc  Jrilhroiir,  in  "Promotion,  or  the  General's  Hat." 

First  Grave-Digger,  in  "Hamlet." 

Raff,  in  "The  Conquering  Game." 

Naudin,  in  "  Tom  Noddy's  Secret." 

Baron  VdnderbusAel,  in  "The  Sentinel." 

John  Bull,  in  Colman's  comedy  of  that  name. 

Gratiano,  in  "The  Merchant  of  Venice." 

Baptisto,  in  "  The  Hunter  of  the  Alps." 

Reef,   in   "  Ambrose    Gwinett."     Melodrama.      By   Douglas 
Jerrold. 

Tapwell,  in  "  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts." 

Station,  in  "The    blind    Boy."     Play.     By  William  Dunlap. 
Altered  from  Kot/ebue. 

itinel,  in  "The  Wandering  Boys."     By  M.  M.  Noah. 

Spinosa,  in  "Venice  Preserved."    Tragedy.     Bv  Thomas  Ot- 

W.l'  .        [6 

Duke  of  Norfolk,  in  Cibber's  version  of  Shakespeare's  "  Rich- 
ard the  Third." 
Sentinel,  in  "  Pizarro." 
Memno,  in  "  Abaellino." 

The  latter  piece  was  a  conspicuous  example  of  the 
"wretched  Dutch  stuff"  that  Mr.  Dunlap's  actors  so 


I46  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

properly  despised.  In  later  days,  at  the  Chatham 
Garden  Theatre,  it  gave  an  occasion  for  a  facetious  ex- 
ploit by  Jefferson  the  Third  and  his  comrades,  to  the 
discomfiture  of  an  actor  named  Andrew  Jackson  Allen, 
who  was  "the  veritable  Guy"  of  the  company.  This 
performer  was  a  manufacturer  of  patent  leather  orna- 
ments for  stage  dresses  ;  and  it  was  he  who  once  aston- 
ished Edwin  Forrest  by  the  emphatic  inquiry,  "  I  should 

like  to  know  what  the  h your  Richard  the  Third 

would  amount  to  without  my  spangles?"  Allen  was 
partial  to  the  play  of  "  Abaellino,"  and  on  the  occasion 
named  he  had  chosen  it  for  his  benefit  night.  Its 
closing  situation  presents  the  whole  dramatis  persona 
on  the  scene,  and,  at  a  critical  moment,  they  all  are  to 
exclaim,  "  Where  is  Aluellino  ?  "  But  Jefferson's  mis- 
chievous plan  had  arranged  that  when  this  moment 
should  come  the  entire  company  should  stand  immova- 
ble and  speechless.  Abczllino,  his  head  darkly  muffled 
in  his  cloak,  for  a  while  awaited  the  word.  At  last  he 
was  heard  to  mutter,  several  times,  "  Somebody  say 
'  where  's  Abcellino  I '  "  There  was  no  response,  and  the 
house  was  already  in  a  titter.  The  dilemma  was  finally 
broken  by  Allen  himself,  who  loudly  cried  out,  "  If  you 
want  to  know  where  's  Abcellino,  here  he  is  "  —  and 
threw  off  his  disguise,  amid  shrieks  of  laughter. 

In  Cowell's  "  Thirty  Years  "  there  is  a  passing  glimpse 
of  Jefferson  the  Third  in  his  last  days.  Cowell  had 
repaired  to  Mobile  after  the  conflagration  of  the  St. 
Charles  Theatre,  New  Orleans,  in  1842,  and  he  refers 
to  the  theatre  which  he  there  joined,  —  a  property 
owned  by  James  H.  Caldwell,  leased  that  year  to  Messrs. 


JEFFERSON  THE    THIRD.  147 

De  Vendel  and  Dumas,  and  managed  for  them  by  Mr. 
Charles  J.  B.  Fisher,  brother  to  Clara  Fisher,  the  fa- 
mous and  popular  actress.  Cowell  says  :  "  Charles 
Fisher,  being  very  desirous  of  proving  his  friendship 
for  the  Jefferson  family,  engaged  all  the  immediate  de- 
scendants of  '  the  old  man  '  now  alive,  and  as  many  of 
the  collateral  branches  as  were  in  want  of  situations. 
Mrs.  Richardson  had  been  in  Mobile  the  season  be- 
fore, and  therefore  she  was  the  nucleus  around  whom 
were  clustered  her  two  sisters  and  their  husbands, 
Messrs.  Mackenzie  and  Wright,  her  brother  Joseph  and 
his  two  very  clever  children,  and  her  niece  Mrs.  Ger- 
mon  and  husband.  The  company,  in  consequence, 
was  literally  a  family,  with  the  exception  of  James 
Thorne  and  myself,  Mrs.  Stewart,  Morton,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hodges  :  so  that  when  poor  Joe  Jefferson  died 
the  theatre  had  to  be  closed  two  nights  ;  for  without 
the  assistance  of  the  chief  mourners  we  could  not  make 
a  performance."  * 

Jefferson's  death  occurred,  suddenly,  at  Mobile,  Ala- 
bama, at  midnight  on  Thursday  the  24th  of  November, 
1842.  He  died  of  yellow-fever,  and  his  remains  were 
buried  on  the  25th.  His  grave  is  in  Magnolia  Ceme- 
tery, at  Mobile  (Square  number  6,  Lot  number  32), 
and  it  is  marked  by  a  white  marble  headstone  inscribed 

*  "  Old  Joe  Cowell  was  an  envious  man,  who  looked  on  the 
actions  of  his  fellow-men  with  an  eye  of  sarcasm,  and  was  ready  at  all 
times  to  pick  a  flaw  in,  and  t"  turn  to  ridicule,  their  best  efforts."  — 
Li«//ow's  Dramatic  Life.  This  is  found  to  be  true  in  reading  Cow 
book,  for  the  spirit  of  the  writer  clearly  shines  through  his  words.  Nev- 
ertheless, he  affords  an  occasional  detail,  or  tint,  that  is  of  advantage  to 
this  picture  of  the  Past.  —  \V.  W. 


148 


THE  JEFFEKSONS. 


with  his  name,  the  date  of  his  death,  and  the  number 
of  his  years.  He  was  only  thirty-eight.  The  stone  to 
commemorate  him  was  erected  in  1867  by  his  son  Jo- 
seph, and  at  the  same  time  a  wooden  grave-mark,  which 
had  originally  designated  the  spot  (the  sole  tribute  that 
poverty  then  permitted  filial  reverence  to  offer),  was 
brought  away  by  him  and  buried  in  the  earth  at  his 
country-seat  in  Hohokus,  New  Jersey. 

The  subjoined  reflections  upon  the  death  of  Jefferson 
were  published,  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence,  in  the 
"  Mobile  Advertiser  "  :  "  When  the  man  of  wealth  and 
station  pays  that  debt  which  neither  high  nor  low  can  re- 
pudiate nor  delay,  he  seldom  lacks  a  eulogist  to  descant 
on  his  posthumous  virtues,  though  undiscovered  until  his 
death,  while  humble  excellence  rarely  lives  beyond  the 
circle  of  affectionate  friendship.  Mr.  Joseph  Jefferson 
was  the  second  son  and  namesake  of  that  distinguished 
comedian  so  many  years  the  pride  and  ornament  of  the 
Chestnut  Street  Theatre  in  Philadelphia,  whose  unblem- 
ished private  life  was  a  moral  sanction  for  his  public 
reputation  ;  and  never  did  the  unostentatious  virtues  of 
a  father  more  purely  descend  upon  his  offspring  than 
in  the  person  of  the  deceased.  He  was  an  actor  of 
great  talent,  and  an  artist  of  unquestioned  excellence. 
Though  living  in  the  public  world,  it  was  not  there  that 
his  true  merit  was  seen ;  and  one  who  has  known  him 
many  years,  in  every  relation  of  life,  may  be  permitted 
to  say  that,  as  a  son,'  a  brother,  a  father,  a  husband,  and 
a  friend,  he  has  left  none  purer  to  lament  his  death  or 
attest  his  virtues.  Guileless  as  a  child,  he  passed 
through   life    in    perfect    charity   to   all  mankind,   and 


JEFFERSON  THE   THIRD.  1 49 

never,  by  his  nearest  and  dearest,  was  he  known  to 
utter  an  unkind  word  or  entertain  an  illiberal  opinion. 
...  His  blameless  nature  was  as  free  from  a  thought 
or  act  of  dishonor  as  the  diamond  is  free  from  alloy ; 
and,  though  a  stranger  among  us,  there  are  many  sor- 
rowing hearts  in  distant  parts  of  this  his  native  land 
who  will  promptly  indorse  this  testimony." 

Note.  —  Careful  search  for  a  portrait  of  Jefferson  the  third 
has  not  been  rewarded.  A  silhouette  likeness  of  him,  and  of 
his  wife,  is  all  that  could  be  found.  A  water-color  portrait  of 
him,  made  by  a  Philadelphia  artist,  named  Wood,  was  long  in 
existence.  It  was  in  a  circular  frame,  marked  with  Masonic 
emblems.  It  disappeared,  about  forty  years  ago,  with  other 
possessions  of  the  family,  in  a  western  city.  Jefferson  was  an 
uncommonly  handsome  man,  self-contained,  placid,  and  singu- 
larly interesting.  With  the  person,  the  manners,  and  the  serene 
and  gentle  temperament  of  an  Addison,  this  actor  was,  in  his 
quiet  way,  an  inveterate  wag.  This  ideal  is  the  strongest  image 
of  him  that  lives  in  memory,  and  many  anecdotes  are  told,  to 
give  it  proof.  On  an  occasion,  at  the  Washington  Theatre,  the 
play  of  "  Tekeli  "  was  presented,  under  Jefferson's  management, 
with  a  melodramatic  actor  named  Dan  Reed  as  the  hero.  Reed 
was  a  large  man,  tall  and  formidable,  wore  a  tremendous  wig 
of  black  hair,  and  spoke  in  tones  of  thunder.  On  this  occasion 
he  was  very  drunk  ;  so  that,  when  the  first  curtain  fell,  Jeffer- 
son thought  it  best  to  withdraw  him  from  the  performance. 
There  was  a  staj  e-sti  ui  !<  tailor  in  the  theatre,  the  keeper  of  the 
wardrobe,  a  little  man  with  a  small  round  head,  entirely  bald. 
This  pel  ing   hi-  opportunity,  offered  himself  as  a  sub- 

stitute for  the  stalwart  and  vociferous  Reed,  —  and  the  occasion 
instantly  became  one  that  Jefferson  could  not  resist.  He 
seized  Reed's  wig,  stuck  it  on  the  bald  head  of  the  tailor,  and, 
without  a  word  of  explanation  to  the  audience,  sent  him  on  for 
the  second  act.  The  business  recpiircs  that,  at  this  juncture, 
Tekeli  shall  be  discovered,  apparently  dead,  lying  upon  a  bier; 


150  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

and  that  he  presently  shall  leap  up,  alive  and  well,  with  a  fine 
flourish  of  exultation.  The  little  tailor  rose  to  the  occasion, — 
springing  suddenly  into  a  defiant  attitude,  and  squeaking  out, 
in  a  thin,  shrill  voice,  "  Hi  ham  Teakaylee  !  "  At  the  same 
instant  the  great  shaggy  wig  dropped  from  his  pate,  and  re- 
vealed that  object,  hairless,  and  shining  like  a  soap-bubble,  — 
while  a  deep  voice  from  the  gallery,  improving  the  ensuing 
moment  of  startled  silence,  quietly  ejaculated,  "  Great  Gosh, 
what  a  head  !  "  It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  audience  fairly 
yelled  with  laughter.  Jefferson's  enjoyment  of  the  scene,  would, 
naturally,  have  been  profound. 

"By  sports  like  these  are  all  their  cares  beguHed  — 
The  sports  of  children  satisfy  the  child." 

W.  W. 


CHARLES    SAINT    THOMAS    BURKE. 
1822  -1854. 


"  Upon  my  word,  thou  art  a  very  odd  fellow,  and  I  like  thy 
humor  extremely."  —  Fielding. 

"With  all  the  fortunate  have  not  — 
With  gentle  voice  and  brow: 
Alive,  we  would  have  changed  thy  lot  — 
We  wotdd  not  change  it  noijji!  —  Matthew  Arnold. 


CHARLES    BURKE. 


It  is  the  concurrent  testimony  of  judicious  actors  and 
play-goers  who  remember  this  extraordinary  young  man 
that  he  was  pre-eminently  possessed  of  genius  in  the 
dramatic  art ;  but  his  life  was  so  brief,  his  health  so 
delicate,  his  temperament  so  dream-like  and  drifting, 
and  his  fate  in  general  so  unfortunate,  that  he  neither 
made  his  rightful  impression  upon  his  own  epoch,  nor 
left  an  adequate  memory  to  ours.  Charles  Saint  Thomas 
Burke  (deriving  the  name  of  Saint  from  his  god-father, 
and  that  of  Thomas  from  his  mother)  was  a  child  of 
the  marriage  of  Thomas  Burke  and  Cornelia  Frances 
Thomas,  and  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  March  27th, 
1822.  When  three  years  old  he  was  introduced  upon 
the  stage,  being  utilized  in  a  line  of  infantile  parts,  after 
the  fashion  of  theatrical  families  in  those  days;  and 
from  that  time  onward  he  was  devoted  to  a  theatrical 
career.  As  a  boy  he  was  exceedingly  apt  and  intelli- 
gent. He  saw,  and  he  could  in  some  measure  appre- 
ciate, the  acting  of  Jefferson  the  Second,  and  of  John  and 
Thomas  Jefferson,  his  connections, —  not  to  speak  of 
other  worthies  of  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre.  —  and 
in  that  good  school  he  was  nurtured  and  trained.  In 
the  summer  of  1836,  when  in  his  fifteenth   year,  he 


154 


THE   JEFFERSONS. 


came  out  at  the  National  Theatre,  New  York,  as  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  in  "  Richard  the  Third."  The  elder 
Booth  was  acting  Gloster.  Later  in  the  season  the  boy 
was  seen  as  Prince  John,  in  "  Henry  IV.,"  and  as  Irus, 
in  "  Ion,"  —  the  former  play  having  been  produced  for 
Hackett  (as  Falstqff},  and  the  latter  for  George  Jones, 
subsequently  known  as  "The  Count  Joannes."  Burke 
also  occasionally  sung  in  public,  and  he  was  esteemed 
wonderfully  clever  in  comic  vocalism.  Long  before 
this  time  his  mother  had  married  Joseph  Jefferson  (the 
Third)  ;  and  when,  at  the  end  of  1837,  his  step-father 
removed  from  New  York  into  the  West,  Burke  was 
taken  there,  along  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  he 
shared  the  vicissitudes  and  hardships  of  the  wandering 
life  which  ensued,  —  at  first  in  the  dramatic  company 
formed  by  Jefferson  and  his  brother-in-law  Alexander 
Mackenzie,  and  afterwards  with  Sol.  Smith  and  others. 
He  was  not  seen  again  in  New  York  till  1847,  when,  on 
July  19th,  he  appeared  at  the  Bowery  Theatre,  acting 
Ebenezer  Calf,  in  "  Ole  Bull,"  and  Dickory,  in  "The 
Spectre  Bridegroom."  Here  he  remained  about  a  year, 
and  thoroughly  established  himself  as  a  local  favorite. 
In  the  summer  of  1848  he  joined  his  friend  Chanfrau, 
at  the  New  National  Theatre,  formerly  the  Chatham, 
which  was  opened  on  August  14th,  that  year,  with 
Burke  as  acting-manager ;  and  with  this  house  he  was 
connected,  during  its  regular  seasons,  till  the  summer 
of  185 1.  There  is  a  record  of  his  having  appeared  at 
Burton's  Theatre,  in  the  spring  of  1849,  as  Billy  Bow- 
bell,  in  "The  Illustrious  Stranger":  but  Burton  was 
jealous  of  him,  as  a  probable  rival  in  popularity,  and 


CHARLES  BURKE.  I  55 

subsequently  used  effective  influence  to  exclude  him 
from  the  theatres  of  the  West  Side  ;  *  and  the  result  of 
this  successful  hostility  was  that  Burke  was  banished  to 
the  Bowery,  and  that  ever  since  he  has  commonly  been 
named,  not,  as  he  should  be,  with  Finn,  Burton,  Blake, 
Twaits,  Blissett,  Warren,  and  Jefferson,  but  with  comic 
artists  of  the  more  common  quality  of  Barnes,  Gates, 
Sefton,  and  Hadaway.  The  last  three  years  of  Burke's 
life  were  mainly  spent  in  professional  travel.  Ludlow 
saw  him  in  St.  Louis  in  his  latter  days,  and  Edwin  Booth 
and  David  Anderson  entertained  him  at  their  ranche  in 
California  in  1852-53.  He  worked  hard,  and  found 
favor  and  made  friends ;  but  he  met  with  scant  pros- 
perity, and  he  suffered  from  failing  health  and  waning 
spirits.  His  last  appearance  on  the  stage  was  made 
where  his  professional  life  began,  —  at  the  Chestnut 
Street  Theatre,  Philadelphia.  This  happened  on  Feb- 
ruary nth,  1854;  and  the  last  character  that  he  per- 

*  "  It  was  said  that  Burton,  jealous  of  Burke,  and  of  his  successes  in 
some  of  the  parts  which  Burton  had  made  his  own,  and  in  which  he 
could  not  endure  the  idea  of  a  rival,  was  the  cause  of  Burke's  banish- 
ment from  Broadway  to  the  East  side  of  the  town.  Burton  was  believed 
to  be  financially  interested,  in  1K40,  with  Mr.  E.  A.  Marshall  in  the  Broad- 
way Theatre,  although  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  bills  of  that  date, 
and  it  was  said  to  be  a  part  of  his  contract  with  Marshall  that  Burke 
should  have  no  engagement  at  the  house  during  Marshall's  management. 
.  .  .  Burke  never  succeed  I  after  that  date,  in  getting  a  position  in  a 
West  side  theatre,  but  played  his  unhappily  too  few  engagements  in  New 
York  to  ill  audiences  oi  the  Bowery,  where  he  was  immensely  popular. 
...  He  is,  perhaps,  quite  forgotten,  except  by  his  own  friends,  and 
I  v,  old  play-goers  who  cling  to  the  memories  of  the  palmy  clays  of  the 
.  ttion  ;  but  by  these  '  Poor  Charly  Burke'  is  still  remembered 
for  his  many  good  qualities  as  actor  and  man."'  —  Laurence  ffutlon's 
Plays  and  Players  (1S75),  chapter  xiv. 


156 


THE  JEFFERSONS. 


sonated  was  Ichdbod  Crane,  in  "Murrell,  the  Land 
Pirate."  He  was  twice  wedded,  but  left  no  children. 
Both  his  marriages  were  unfortunate.  His  first  wife, 
Margaret  Murcoyne,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  born  in 
1818,  died  in  that  city  in  1849.  His  second,  Mrs. 
Sutherland,  survived  him,  but  has  since  passed  away. 
Both  these  ladies  were  on  the  stage.  The  latter  was 
the  mother  of  lone  Sutherland,  who  adopted  her  step- 
father's name,  and,  as  lone  Burke,  had  a  brief  theatri- 
cal career,  terminating  in  marriage.  She  is  now  residing 
in  retirement  in  England.  Charles  Burke  died  in  Leon- 
ard Street,  New  York,  November  10th,  1854,  in  the 
thirty-third  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  the  same 
grave  with  his  mother,  in  Ronaldson's  Cemetery  at  Phil- 
adelphia. 

The  testimonials  which  exist,  to  the  loveliness  of 
Burke's  character,  and  to  the  strength  and  versatility 
of  his  genius,  are  touched  equally  with  affection  and 
tender  regret.  "  He  grew  up,"  writes  Elizabeth  Jeffer- 
son, "  to  be  one  of  the  best  actors  we  ever  had.  As  a 
boy  he  was  full  of  promise  ;  and  when,  after  fifteen 
years,  I  saw  him  act  in  Mobile  I  was  struck  with  what 
seemed  to  me  a  revival  of  the  old  time.  A  more  tal- 
ented and  kind-hearted  man  than  Charles  Burke  never 
lived."  His  old  comrade  Chanfrau  speaks  in  the  same 
strain  :  "  He  was  a  great  actor  and  a  true  man.  One 
cannot  say  too  much  of  his  talents  and  his  worth.  He 
could  do  many  things  in  acting,  and  was  wonderful  in 
all  that  he  did." 

In  person  Burke  was  tall,  slender,  and  extraordinarily 
thin ;  and  his  long,  emaciated  figure  —  agile,  supple, 


CHARLES  BURKE. 


157 


and  graceful  —  seemed  expressly  made  for  queer  comic 
contortions  and  grotesque  attitudes.  His  countenance 
was  capable  of  great  variety  of  expression,  ranging  from 
ludicrous  eccentricity  to  painful  sadness,  and  he  had  it 
under  such  complete  control  that  it  responded,  instantly 
and  exactly,  to  every  changing  impulse  of  his  mind  and 
feelings,  so  that  he  had  a  new  face  for  every  part  that 
he  played.  The  boys  of  the  Bowery  pit  firmly  believed 
him  to  be  the  original  of  the  long-legged  figure  on  the 
comic  almanac.  In  the  course  of  thirty  years  many 
parts  were  acted  by  this  versatile  player.  These  are  a 
few  of  them,  suggestively  indicative  of  his  attributes  and 
artistic  affinities  :  — 


PARTS  ACTED  BY  CHARLES  BURKE. 

Touchstone,  Sir  Andrew  Aguecheek,  Slender,  Dromio,  Launce, 
The  First  Gravedi^r,  Launcelot  Gobbo,  Marrall,  Baillie  Nicol 
Jarvie,  Dr.  Ollapod,  Zekiel  Homespun,  Bob  Aeres,  Moses,  The 
Mock  Duke  Jacques,  Grandfather  Whitehead,  Mark  Meddle,  and 
Caleb  ]  'In  m  in  er. 

Dickory,  in  "The  Spectre  Bridegroom."  Farce.  By  W.  T. 
Moncrieff.     Drury  Lane,  1821. 

Ebenezer  Calf,  in  "  <  He  Bull."     Farce. 

Billy  Lac  ha  day,  in  "Sweethearts  and  Wives." 

Clever,  in  "  Woman's  Wit."  Acted  under  the  name  of  "  Slan- 
der."    Play.     By  Sheridan  Knowles. 

Stitchback,  in  "  Hofer,  the  Tell  of  the  Tyro]." 

Rip  Win  Winkle,  in  a  drama  on  that  subject,  by  himself. 

Splash,  in  "The  Young  \\  idow." 

Gruntio,  in  "  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew." 

Solon  Shingle,  in  "The  People's  Lawyer."  Farce.  By  Dr. 
J.  S.  Jones. 

Horsebeam  Hemlock,  in  "  <  laptain  Kyd."     I  ir.mi.i      First  acted 


158  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

at  the  Park,  in  1839,  with  Peter  Richings  as  Robert  Lester,  alias 
Kyd,  Mrs.  Richardson  as  Kate,  and  Charlotte  Cushman  as 
Elspy. 

Ichabod  Crane,  in  "  Murrell  the  Land  Pirate,  or  the  Yankee 
in  Mississippi."  Drama.  By  Nathaniel  Harrington  Bannister 
(1813-1847),  author  of  about  one  hundred  plays. 

Iago,  in  a  travestie  of  "  Othello." 

Billy  Bowbell,  in  "  The  Illustrious  Stranger." 

Mesopotamia  Jenkins, \n" The  Revolution."  Play.  By  Charles 
Burke.     Bowery,  1847. 

Cloten,  in  "  Cymbeline." 

Ensign  Jost  Stoll,  in  "Jacob  Leisler,  or  New  York  in  1690." 
Historical  drama.  By  Cornelius  Matthews.  Bowery  Theatre, 
1848. 

Isidore  Farine,  in  "  The  Pride  of  the  Market."  Mary  Taylor 
acted  with  Burke,  as  Morton. 

Clod  Meddlenot,  in  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lions."     Burlesque. 

Captain  Tobin,  in  "  The  Mysteries  and  Miseries  of  New  York." 
By  H.  P.  Grattan.  Based  on  a  story  by  "  Ned  Buntline  "  (E.  C. 
Z.  Judson). 

Mr.  McGreedy,  in  a  burlesque,  by  himself,  satirizing  the  great 
tragic  actor,  \V.  C.  Macready. 

Paul  Pry,  in  the  comedy  of  that  name,  by  John  Poole. 

Toby  Veck,  in  "  The  Chimes."  Drama.  Based  on  the  Christ- 
mas story  of  that  name,  by  Charles  Dickens. 

Caleb  Scrimmage,  in  "  Jonathan  Bradford,  or  the  Roadside 
Murder." 

Darby,  in  "The  Poor  Soldier."  Comic  opera.  By  John 
O'Keefe.     Covent  Garden,  1793. 

Mettaroarer,  in  "  The  Female  Forty  Thieves."  Burlesque. 
In  this  part  Burke  gave  a  comic  imitation  of  Edwin  Forrest,  as 
Metamora. 

DeJiteronomy  Dutiful,  Selim  Pettibone,  and  Timothy  Toodlcs. 

An  instructive  article  by  L.  Clarke  Davis,  published 
in  "  Lippincott's  Magazine"  for  July,.  1879,  entitled 
"  At  and  After  the  Play,"  incidentally  shows  Burke  as 


CHARLES  BURKE.  I  59 

dramatist  and  actor,  embodies  a  pleasing  reminiscence 
of  him  by  that  delightful  humorist  and  comedian  John 
S.  Clarke,  and  places  Burke  and  Jefferson  before  the 
reader  in  their  sacred  relation  of  affectionate  brother- 
hood. Burke  made  his  own  version  of  "  Rip  Van  Win- 
kle," and  acted  Rip.  Mr.  Davis  comments  on  the 
subject,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Burke's  play  follows  closely  the  story  of  the  '  Sketch-Book,' 
and  lacks  altogether  the  sweet,  tender  humanity  and  the  weird 
spirituality  which  pervade  the  combined  work  of  Jefferson  and 
Boucicault:  it  makes  nothing  of  the  parting  from,  or  the  meeting 
with,  the  child  Meenie ;  but,  much  of  the  dialogue,  which  was 
Burke's  own,  has  been  wisely  retained.  The  speech  containing 
the  notable  line  '  Are  we  so  soon  forgot  when  we  are  gone  ? '  is 
Burke's,  not  Boucicault's,  though  Jefferson  has  transposed  and 
altered  it  for  the  better.  It  is  introduced  in  the  original,  when 
Rip,  returning  to  his  old  home,  is  told  that  if  he  be  Rip,  and  not  an 
impostor,  some  one  of  his  old  cronies  will  surely  recognize  him. 
He  answers,  'To  be  sure  (ley  will  !  Everyone  knows  me  in 
Kaatskill.  {All gather  around  him  and  shake  their  heads.)  No, 
no,  I  don't  know  dese  peoples  —  dey  don't  know  me  neither; 
and  yesterday  dere  was  not  a  dog  in  the  village  but  would  have 
wagged  his  tail  .it  me-:  now  dey  bark.  Dere  was  not  a  child 
but  would  have  scrambled  on  my  knees:  now  dey  run  from  me. 
Are  we  so  soon  forgotten  when  we  are  gone?  Already  dere  is 
no  one  wot  knows  poor  Rip  Van  Winkle.' 

"  We  never  saw  Charles  burke  play  this  part,  though  we  have 
seen  him  play  many  others,  and  can  testify  to  the  greatness  of 
his  genius  and  the  perfection  of  his  art.  .  .  .  How  he  spoke  that 
speech  we  have  bnii  told  by  John  Sleeper  Clarke,  who  is  so 
just  a  man  and  so  free  from  professional  jealousy  that  he  could 
not,  if  he  would,  praise  the  dead  at  the  expense  of  the  living. 
Mi.  ( 'larke  says  that  in  the  delivery  of  those  lines  no  other  actor 
has  ever  disturbed  the  impression  that  the  profound  pathos  of 
Burke's  voice,  face,  and  gesture  created  :  it  fell  upon  the  senses 


i6o 


THE  JEFFERSONS. 


like  the  culmination  of  all  mortal  despair,  and  the  actor's  fig- 
ure, as  the  low,  sweet  tones  died  away,  symbolized  more  the 
ruin  of  the  representative  of  a  race  than  the  sufferings  of  an 
individual :  his  awful  loss  and  loneliness  seemed  to  clothe  him 
with  a  supernatural  dignity  and  grandeur  which  commanded  the 
sympathy  and  awe  of  his  audience.  Mr.  Clarke  played  Scth  with 
Mr.  Burke  for  many  consecutive  nights,  and  he  relates  that,  on 
each  succeeding  night,  though  he  was  always  aware  of  what  was 
coming,  even  watching  for  it,  when  those  lines  were  spoken  his 
heart  seemed  to  rise  in  his  throat,  choking  him,  and  his  cheeks 
were  wet  with  tears  ;  for  Burke's  manner  of  pronouncing  them 
was  so  pathetic  that  not  only  the  audience  but  even  the  actors 
on  the  stage  were  affected  by  it. 

"  Mr.  Jefferson,  remembering  how  his  brother  spoke  that 
speech,  has  adopted  a  different   mode  :    '  It   is  possible  that  I 

might  speak  it  as  he  did,  but '     He  leaves  the  sentence 

unfinished,  the  reason  untold  ;  but  it  is  an  open  secret  to  those 
who  know  how  deep  is  the  reverence  of  the  living  Rip  for  the 
dead  one.  They  know  that  there  are  tones  of  Charles  Burke's 
voice  even  which  are  held  in  too  sacred  a  memory  by  his  brother 
ever  to  be  recalled  by  him  upon  the  stage.  In  speaking  of  him, 
Mr.  Jefferson  said  :  '  Charles  Burke  was  to  acting  what  Men- 
delssohn was  to  music.  Me  did  not  have  to  work  for  his  effects, 
as  I  do.  He  was  not  analytical,  as  I  am.  Whatever  he  did 
came  to  him  naturally,  —  as  grass  grows  or  water  runs.  It  was 
not  talent  that  informed  his  art,  but  genius.'  Between  these 
half-brothers,  Burke  and  Jefferson,  there  was  a  feeling  of  fellow- 
ship stronger  than  fraternal  attachment,  —  a  degree  of  affec- 
tionate devotion,  which  has  passed  into  a  stage  tradition  ;  and, 
as  man  or  artist,  Charles  Burke  has  no  warmer  eulogist  than 
Joseph  Jefferson." 

The  memorials  that  remain  of  Burke  are  few  and  un- 
substantial. Those  play-goers  who  remember  a  French 
comedian  named  Leduc  (now  dead),  who  acted  at  the 
theatre  in  14th  Street,  New  York,  now  Haverly's  Thea- 
tre (1881),  when  "  La  Grande  Duchesse  "  was  first  pre- 


CHARLES  BURKE.  i6l 

sented  in  America,  possess  at  least  Burke's  likeness. 
The  French  actor  was  one  of  the  company  that  Bate- 
man  brought  over  from  Paris  to  co-operate  with  Mile. 
Tostee  in  the  introduction  of  the  Opera  Bouffe  upon 
the  American.stage.  He  acted  Prince  Paul,  and  sub- 
sequently Menclaus,  in  "  La  Belle  Helene."  He  was 
of  a  strangely  winning  personality.  He  never  obtruded 
himself.  He  drifted  into  and  out  of  the  open  scenic 
spaces  like  a  star  among  the  light  clouds  of  a  summer 
night.  His  art  concealed  every  vestige  of  effort.  He 
was  the  perfection  of  grace.  And  through  all  the  gen- 
tle drollery  of  his  seemingly  unconscious  action  there 
ran  a  vein  of  reticent,  wistful  sensibility,  which,  without 
being  sadness  itself,  produced  upon  others  the  momen- 
tary effect  of  sadness.  It  was  the  fortune  of  the  pres- 
ent biographer  very  often  to  see  this  exquisite  actor, 
with  the  present  Jefferson  as  a  companion  spectator, 
and  to  enjoy  in  his  acting  a  prodigious  delight  —  at 
that  absolute  thoroughness  of  dramatic  art  which  is  na- 
ture at  nature's  best.  Leduc,  Jefferson  said,  was  more 
like  Charles  Burke  than  any  man  he  had  ever  seen. 
But  Burke,  he  added,  had  tragic  powers,  as  well  as  the 
faculty  of  humor,  and  would  often  astonish  his  associates 
and  die  public,  who  had  been  thinking  only  of  his  droll- 
ery, by  some  sudden  dash  into  tragic  passion,  or  by  a 
marvellous  self-poise  in  the  realm  of  pathos.  Not  im- 
probably Burke  as  an  actor  had  the  mental  constitution 
of  Hood  as  a  poet,  —  who,  in  one  mood,  could  chuckle 
over  the  farcical  theme  of  '  Miss  Kilmansegg  and  Her 
Precious  Leg,'  and,  in  another,  could  melt  the  heart 
with  'The  Bridge  of  Sighs,'  or  awe  the  fancy  with  the 


1 62  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

sombre  image  of  '  Eugene  Aram,'  or  wake  the  spirit 
of  regretful  dreams  with  '  Inez,'  or  thrill  the  deep 
foundations  of  the  imagination  with  the  wonderful 
poetic  magic  of  '  The  Haunted  House.' 

In  the  days  of  his  prosperity  as  Mose,  Mr.  F.  S.  Chan- 
frau  opened  a  theatre,  in  Brooklyn,  styled  "The 
Museum,"  with  Charles  Burke  as  stage-manager.  On 
the  opening  night  Burke  acted  the  chief  comic  part 
in  a  new  piece,  and  spoke  the  tag.  Chanfrau,  who 
had  been  acting  elsewhere,  hurried  thither  as  soon 
as  his  performance  was  ended,  impatient  to  learn 
the  result  of  this  new  venture.  That  result  was  failure. 
The  piece  had  been  coldly  received,  and  all  Burke's 
efforts  had  failed  to  save  it.  Chanfrau  went  at  once 
to  the  stage.  The  curtain  had  just  fallen.  The  actors 
had  dispersed  to  their  rooms.  Burke  alone  remained 
upon  the  scene.  He  was  standing  in  the  centre 
front  of  the  stage,  exactly  where  he  had  stood  when 
the  curtain  fell.  Motionless,  with  head  bowed,  with 
hands  clasped,  unconscious  of  all  around  him,  the 
comic  genius  stood  there  in  the  shadow,  with  the  weight 
of  disaster  on  his  heart,  and  with  the  tears  slowly  run- 
ning down  his  face.  He  could  not  speak.  His  sensi- 
tive spirit  had  taken  upon  itself  the  blame  and  the  blight 
of  a  failure.  So,  transfigured  by  loss  and  sorrow,  he 
stands  forever  in  the  pantheon  of  memory ;  and  round 
him  the  withering  leaves  of  autumn  fall,  and  cold  winds 
sigh  in  the  long  grasses,  and  twilight  slowly  deepens,  and 
the  world  is  far  away. 


* 


JEFFERSON    THE    FOURTH. 


RIP   VAN    WINKLE. 


"  If  he  come  not,  then  the  play  is  ?>tarrcd."  —  Shakespeare. 

"  //  is  difficult  to  render  even  ordinary  justice  to  living  merit,  with- 
out incurring  the  suspicion  of  being  influenced  by  partiality,  or  by 
motives  of  a  less  honorable  nature.  Yet,  as  -what  I  shall  say  of  this 
gentleman,  whose  friendship  I  have  enjoyed  for  many  years,  and  still 
possess  in  unabated  cordiality,  will  be  supported  by  all  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  him,  I  am  under  no  apprehension  of  suffering  by  the 
suggestions  of  malice."  —  John  Taylor. 


* 


These  lines  by  Wordsworth,  written  in  1800,  entitled  "  A 
Character,"  and  found  among  that  great  author's  "  Poems  of 
Sentiment  and  Reflection,"  seem  singularly  applicable  to  the 
man  who  is  seen  and  loved  in  Jefferson's  performance  of  Rip 
Van  Winkle:  — 

"  I  marvel  how  Nature  could  ever  find  space 

For  so  many  strange  contrasts  in  one  human  face : 

There's  thought  and  no  thought,  and  there's  paleness  and  bloom, 

And  bustle  and  sluggishness,  pleasure  and  gloom. 

"  There's  weakness  and  strength,  both  redundant  and  vain; 
Such  strength  as,  if  ever  affliction  and  pain 
Could  pierce  through  a  temper  that 's  soft  to  disease, 
Would  be  rational  peace,  —  a  philosopher's  ease. 

"  There  's  indifference,  alike  when  he  fails  or  succeeds, 
And  attention  full  ten  times  as  much  as  there  needs  ; 
Pride  where  there  's  no  envy,  there'  s  so  much  of  joy  ; 
And  mildness,  and  spirit  both  forward  and  coy. 

"  There 's  freedom,  and  sometimes  a  diffident  stare, 
Of  shame,  scarcely  seeming  to  know  that  she 's  there : 
There  's  virtue,  the  title  it  surely  may  claim, 
Yet  wants  heaven  knows  what  to  be  worthy  the  name. 

"  This  picture  from  nature  may  seem  to  depart, 
Yet  the  Man  would  at  once  run  away  with  your  heart : 
And  I  for  five  centuries  right  gladly  would  be 
Such  an  odd,  such  a  kind,  happy  creature  as  he." 


* 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH. 


The  maternal  ancestry  of  the  present  representa- 
tive of  the  Jeffersons  is  French ;  and  of  him,  as  of 
Garrick,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  blood  of  three 
nationalities  flows  in  his  veins.  French,  English,  and 
Irish  were  the  currents  that  mingled  in  Garrick : 
French,  English,  and  Scotch  are  the  currents  that 
combine  in  Jefferson.  The  inquirer  finds  Jefferson's 
French  ancestry  in  the  Island  of  St.  Domingo.  There, 
about  the  beginning  of  this  century,  living  in  affluence, 
upon  his  plantation,  dwelt  M.  Thomas,  a  gentleman 
newly  arrived  from  France.  Little  is  known  about  him 
now  ;  but  it  is  remembered,  of  his  character  and  con- 
duct  in  later  years,  that  he  was  a  person  of  winning 
manners,  cheerful  fortitude,  and  resolute  mind.  He 
had  rested  for  a  while  in  New  York,  in  company  with 
his  wife,  on  their  journey  from  France  to  St.  Domingo 
to  take  possession  of  an  inherited  estate  ;  and  in  New 
York,  on  October  ist,  i  796,  was  born  their  daughter, 
Cornelia  Frances.  In  the  next  year  they  were  estab- 
lished in  their  new  home,  and  there  they  continued  to 
reside  till  the  period  of  the  negro  insurrection  led  by 
Dessalines.  At  this  crisis  they  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  murder,  in  the  massacre  of  the  white  population 
by  which  that   revolt  was  attended.     The  first  rising 


1 66  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

of  the  negroes  against  the  French  in  St.  Domingo  oc- 
curred in  1791-93,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  tem- 
porary government  of  Toussaint  L'Ouverture.  The 
second  rising,  which  resulted  in  the  murder  or  the 
expatriation  of  the  French  residents,  was  effected  in 
1803  ;  and  it  was  then  that  M.  Thomas  and  his  family 
were  in  peril.  They  escaped,  however,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  negro  slave,  named  Alexandre, 
who  —  impelled  by  affectionate  fidelity  towards  his 
master  —  gave  warning  of  the  impending  danger,  just 
as  it  was  close  at  hand  ;  but  it  was  only  by  precipitate 
flight  that  M.  Thomas  was  able  to  elude  the  doom  of 
slaughter  which  had  been  pronounced  against  himself 
and  all  his  household.  He  fled  by  night,  and,  after 
many  perils,  escaped  to  sea  in  an  open  boat,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife  and  daughter,  and  by  the  faithful 
servant  who  had  thus  saved  their  lives.  The  fugitives 
were  picked  up  by  an  American  vessel  and  carried  into 
the  port  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

M.  Thomas  was  now  a  poor  man,  and  the  rest  of  his 
days  passed  in  poverty  and  labor.  At  first  he  attempted 
a  minor  shop-keeping  industry  of  some  sort ;  but  this 
did  not  succeed.  His  wife  soon  died,  and  his  little 
daughter  remained  his  chief  care.  One  day,  in  a 
Charleston  street,  he  chanced  to  meet  Alexandre  Pla- 
cide,  whom  he  had  known  in  France,  and  who  wel- 
comed him  as  an  old  friend.  Placide,  famous  as  an 
athlete  and  a  rope-dancer,  —  the  father  of  Henry, 
Thomas,  Caroline,  Eliza,  and  Jane  Placide,  all  known, 
in  later  days  upon  the  stage,  —  was  then  manager 
of    the    Charleston    Theatre,   and   in   that   institution 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  1 67 

M.  Thomas  found  employment.  He  never,  indeed,  at- 
tempted acting  ;  but  his  daughter,  who  at  once  became 
a  pet  with  the  Placide  family,  was  soon  brought  forward, 
in  the  ballet,  at  the  Charleston  Theatre,  and  presently 
was  intrusted  with  minor  parts  in  the  plays.  This  was 
her  school,  and  here  she  grew  up,  an  actress  and  a 
singer,  early  winning  for  herself  an  excellent  rank  in 
the  profession,  —  especially  as  a  vocalist,  —  which  she 
maintained  almost  to  the  end  of  her  life. 

"Possessing  a  fair  share  of  ability  as  a  comic  actress,"  says 
Mr.  Ireland,  "with  a  pleasing  face  and  person,  and  an  exquisite 
voice,  —  which,  in  power,  purity,  and  sweetness,  was  unap- 
proached  by  any  contemporary,  —  she  soon  eclipsed  all  rivalry 
in  vocalism ;  and,  till  the  more  cultivated  style  of  Italy  was 
introduced,  was  considered  the  model  of  all  excellence.  She 
was  attached  to  the  Park  [New  York]  for  two  or  three  seasons, 
and  afterwards  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  she  became  an 
equally  distinguished  favorite." 

The  first  husband  of  Cornelia  Frances  Thomas  was 
the  Irish  comedian,  Thomas  Burke,  to  whom  she  was 
married  in  her  girlhood,  Burke  was  noted  for  his  fine 
talents  and  handsome  person,  and  likewise  —  as  this 
lady  afterward  had  sad  reason  to  know  —  for  his  dissi- 
pated habits  and  his  gallantry.  He  was  on  the  Charles- 
ton stage  —  where  she  first  met  with  him  —  as  early  as 
1802,  and  therefore  he  must  have  been  considerably 
older  than  his  wife.  He  first  appeared  in  New  York, 
on  April  29th,  181 1,  at  the  Park,  and  subsequently  he 
fulfilled  several  New  York  engagements.  At  a  later 
period  he  resided  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  became  a 
favorite  with  play-goers,  as  the  dashing,  devil-may-care 


1 68 


THE   JEFFERSONS. 


Irishman.  His  death  occurred,  from  delirium  tremens, 
in  1824,  in  Baltimore.  Wood  says  he  died  on  June 
6th,  1825.  However  that  may  be,  his  demise  was  a 
considerable  relief  to  those  who  were  best  acquainted 
with  him;  and  on  July  27th,  1826,  his  widow  became 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Jefferson,  the  Third  of  the  line  of 
actors  commemorated  in  this  chronicle.  ^ 

A  pleasant  reminiscent  glimpse  of  the  mother  of 
Jefferson  the  Fourth  is  afforded  in  the  following  extract 
from  N.  M.  Ludlow's  "  Dramatic  Life  "  (1880)  :  — 

"  Finding  matters  so  dull  in  New  York  ( 1826),  my  wife  and 
I  went  to  Philadelphia,  to  pay  a  visit  to  our  much-esteemed 
friend,  Mrs.  Cornelia  Burke,  after  whom  our  first  daughter  was 
named.  We  found  the  lady  recently  married  again,  to  Mr. 
Joseph  Jefferson,  scenic  artist,  afterwards  father  of  Joseph 
Jefferson,  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  renown.  .  .  .  Our  meeting  with 
this  lady  was  a  very  pleasant  one :  we  had  not  seen  her  since 
the  voyage  we  made  with  her  to  Virginia,  from  New  Orleans, 
in  the  summer  of  1821.  We  presented  to  her  the  little  name- 
sake, then  five  years  of  age,  who  was  greatly  admired  by  Mrs. 
Jefferson  and  her  friends.  (Now,  1881,  an  old  lady,  married, 
and  residing  in  the  West). 

"  We  passed  a  very  pleasant  week  in  Philadelphia,  occasion- 
ally visiting  Mrs.  Jefferson,  who  was  always  excellent  company 
herself;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  we  often  met  with  very  agree- 
able persons  at  her  house,  who  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  her. 
Mrs.  Jefferson  was  of  French  parentage.  .  .  .  Her  first  efforts 
on  the  stage  were  in  singing  characters,  such  as  Rosina,  in  the 
comic  opera  of  "  Rosina,  or  the  Reapers  " ;  Countess,  in  "  John 
of  Paris  ";  and  Virginia,  in  "  Paul  and  Virginia,"  and  the  like. 
I  remember  with  much  pleasure  her  singing  in  those  Fnglish 
operas.  She  performed  Blanche  of  Devon,  in  the  melo-drama 
of  "  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  on  the  night  when  I  made  my 
first  appearance  in  Mr.  Caldwell's  company,  in  New  Orleans, 
in  1821.     She  also  performed  speaking  characters  very  well. 


JEFFERSON   THE  FOURTH.  1 69 

The  first  time  that  I  remember  to  have  seen  her  was  at  Albany 
(1814-15),  in  the  character  of  Susan  Ashfidd,  in  "Speed  the 
Plough  "  ;  on  the  occasion  when  I  made  my  clandestine  appear- 
ance as  Bob  Handfs  Servant,  and  was  complimented  on  it  by 
Mr.  (Thomas)  Burke." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burke  had  one  son,  Charles  Saint 
Thomas  Burkk,  who  became  a  great  comedian,  but 
died  too  soon  for  his  own  fame  and  the  happiness  of 
his  generation. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jefferson  had  four  children,  two  of 
whom  died  in  infancy,  while  two  have  survived  to  the 
present  day  :  — 

1.  Joseph  Jefferson.  —  This  is  Jefferson  the  Fourth  — 
Rip  Van  Winkle. 

2.  Cornelia  Jefferson.  —  This  lady  was  born  in  Balti. 
more,  Md.,  October  1st,  1835,  and  went  on  the  stage  in  child- 
hood, performing  in  the  travelling  company  of  which  her 
parents  were  members,  at  Chicago,  Galena,  and  other  places 
in  the  West  and  South,  after  the  year  1837.  She  accompanied 
her  relatives,  in  their  various  professional  wanderings,  during 
tlie  next  twelve  years.  On  May  17th,  1S49,  she  appeared  in 
New  York,  at  Chanfrau's  National  Theatre,  acting  Little 
Fickle,  in  "The  Spoiled  Child."  In  1857  and  1858  she  was 
connected  with  the  dramatic  company  of  Laura  Keene's  Thea- 
tre, and  she  was  last  seen  on  the  New  York  stage,  at  this 
house,  after  it  had  become  the  Olympic  —  being  the  second  of 
that  name.  This  appearance  was  made  in  the  autumn  of  1S67, 
as  Titania,  in  "A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream."  The  Olympic, 
which  had  been  started  by  Mis.  John  Wood,  in  1S63,  was  at 
this  time  managed  by  Mr.  James  E.  Haves  [obiit  in  N.  Y.  May 
7th,  1873),  Ior  nis  father-in-law,  Mr.  John  A.  Duff.  Since  then 
Cornelia  Jefferson  has  been  li^ng,  in  retirement,  in  Philadel- 
phia. She  visited  England  in  1 S 7 7 .  She  is  now  the  widow 
of  a  Mr.  Jackson,  and  has  one  son,  Mr.  Charles  Jackson,  who 
has  attempted  the  stage. 


170 


THE  JEFFERSONS. 


The  mother  of  Charles  Burke  and  Joseph  Jefferson 
died,  at  Philadelphia,  in  November,  1849,  and  her 
grave  —  which,  a  few  years  later,  became  also  that  of 
the  former  of  these  sons  —  is  in  Ronaldson's  Cemetery, 
corner  of  Bainbridge  and  Ninth  Streets,  in  that  city. 
The  present  writer,  in  company  with  Joseph  Jefferson, 
visited  this  place  of  rest,  not  long  ago,  and  found  it 
thickly  overgrown  with  flowering  shrubs  and  climbing 
roses.     A  large  white  stone  marks  the  spot,  inscribed 

"to  our  mother  and  our  brother, cornelia  f. 

Jefferson,  Charles  Burke." 

In  this  little  grave-yard  rest  other  members  of  the 
dramatic  profession,  eminent  in  their  day,  and  still  not 
forgotten.  The  magnificent  Josephine  Clifton,  who 
died  in  1846,  is  buried  there,  and  there  was  entombed 
the  untimely  dust  of  Samuel  Chapman. 

The  fate  of  M.  Thomas,  the  old  French  ancestor  of 
Jefferson  the  Fourth,  was  tragically  sad.  He  survived 
till  1827,  living,  toward  the  last,  in  his  daughter's  house- 
hold. During  his  latter  years  he  was  in  continual  suffer- 
ing, from  hereditary  and  incurable  gout.  He  bore  his 
agonies  patiently,  till  there  came  a  time  when  he  could 
bear  no  more  :  the  constant  and  deadly  tortures  drove 
him  to  despair.  In  that  condition  —  frantic  with  pain, 
hopeless  and  miserable  —  the  poor  old  gentleman  drove 
out,  one  morning,  to  the  Market  Street  Bridge,  over 
the  Schuylkill  River,  dismissed  his  carriage,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  was  left  alone,  sprang  over  the  parapet  and 
was  drowned. 

Joseph  Jefferson,  the  representative  American  come- 
dian of  our  time,  was  born  at  Philadelphia  on  the  20th 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  \Jl 

of  February,  1829,  in  a  house  which  is  still  standing  — 
unchanged  except  that  a  shop  has  been  opened  on  the 
ground-floor  of  it  —  at  the  south-west  corner  of  Spruce 
and  Sixth  Streets.  In  childhood  he  gave  many  indica- 
tions of  an  exceptional  mind  and  character,  and  of  the 
artistic  abilities  that  were  to  be  developed  in  his  ma- 
ture years.  He  was  reared  amidst  theatrical  surround- 
ings, and  when  only  four  years  old  was  brought  upon 
the  stage,  at  the  Washington  Theatre,  by  Thomas  D. 
Rice,  the  famous  delineator  of  negro  character.  This 
comedian,  on  a  benefit  occasion,  introduced  the  child, 
blackened  and  arrayed  precisely  like  himself,  into  his 
performance  of  jfim  Crow ;  and  little  Joe  was  carried 
upon  the  scene  in  a  bag,  by  the  shambling  Ethio- 
pian actor,  and  emptied  from  it,  with  the  appropriate 
couplet,  — 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  'd  have  you  for  to  know 
I  'se  got  a  little  darkey  here,  to  jump  Jim  Crow." 

An  eye-witness  of  this  first  appearance,  —  that  ad- 
mirable actress,  Mrs.  John  Drew,  of  Philadelphia,  — 
says  that  the  boy  instantly  assumed  the  exact  attitude 
of  Jim  Crow  Rice,  and  sang  and  danced  in  imitation 
of  his  sable  companion,  and  was  a  perfect  miniature 
likeness  of  that  long,  ungainly,  grotesque,  and  exceed- 
ingly droll  comedian. 

Thomas  1 ).  Rice,  thus  strangely  associated  with 
Jefferson,  was  a  remarkable  man  and  had  a  singular 
career.  He  was  horn  in  New  York  City,  May  20th, 
1808,  and  died  there  September  19th,  i860.  When  a 
boy  he  was  employed  as  a  supernumerary  at  the  Park 


172  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Theatre.  Afterwards  he  went  into  the  West.  Cowell 
met  him,  at  Cincinnati,  in  1829,  "a  very  unassuming, 
modest  young  man,  little  dreaming  then  that  he  was 
destined  to  astonish  the  Duchess  of  St.  Albans,  or  any- 
body else ;  he  had  a  queer  hat,  very  much  pointed 
down  before  and  behind,  and  very  much  cocked  on 
one  side."  The  same  writer  states  that  Thomas  H. 
Blakeley  was  the  first  to  introduce  negro  singing  on 
the  American  stage,  and  adds  that  Blakeley's  singing 
of  the  "  Coal  Black  Rose  "  set  the  fashion  which  Rice 
followed.  Wemyss  says  that  the  original  Jim  Crow 
was  a  negro,  at  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  named  Jim  Cuff.  The 
veteran  actor,  Edmon  S.  Connor,  in  a  talk  published 
in  the  N.  Y.  Times,  June  5th,  1881,  asserts  that  it  was 
an  old  negro  slave,  owned  by  a  man  named  Crow,  who 
kept  a  livery-stable,  in  the  rear  of  the  theatre  in  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  managed  by  Ludlow  &  Smith,  in  1828-29, 
and  that  this  person  adopted  his  master's  name,  and 
called  himself  "  Jim  Crow."     Connor  adds  :  — 

"  He  was  much  deformed,  the  right  shoulder  being  drawn 
high  up,  the  left  leg  stiff  and  crooked  at  the  knee,  giving  him  a 
painful  but  laughable  limp.  He  used  to  croon  a  queer  tune 
with  words  of  his  own,  and  at  the  end  of  each  stanza  would 
give  a  little  jump,  and  when  he  came  down  he  set  his  'heel 
a-rockin.'  He  called  it 'jumping  Jim  Crow.'  The  words  of 
the  refrain  were  :  — 

'  Wheel  about,  turn  about, 
Do  jes  so, 
An'  ebery  time  I  wheel  about, 
I  jump  Jim  Crow  ! ' 

"  Rice  watched  him  closely,  and  saw  that  here  was  a  charac- 
ter unknown  to  the  stage.     He  wrote  several  stanzas,  changed 


JEFFERSON   THE  FOURTH.  173 

the  air  somewhat,  quickened  it,  made  up  exactly  like  the  old 
negro,  and  sang  to  a  Louisville  audience.  They  were  wild 
with  delight,  and  on   the   first  night  he  was  recalled  twenty 

times." 

Rice  went  to  England  in  1836,  and  was  immedi- 
ately a  chief  feature  in  the  London  theatrical  world. 
He  there  married  a  Miss  Gladstanes.  His  profession 
yielded  him  a  large  competence.  It  was  one  of  his 
freaks  to  wear  gold  pieces  on  his  coat,  for  buttons  ; 
and  frequently  he  was  first  stupefied  with  wine,  and 
then  robbed  of  these  ornaments.  He  was  a  wonderful 
actor,  in  such  parts  as  Wormwood,  in  Buckstone's  farce 
of  "The  Lottery  Ticket,"  Old  D elf ,  in  "  Family  Jars," 
and  Spruce  Pink,  in  "The  Virginia  Mummy."  He 
took  his  hints  from  actual  life,  but,  like  all  creative 
artists,  he  was  an  interpreter  and  not  a  photographer; 
and,  in  that  sense,  he  himself,  and  not  another,  was 
the  original  of  all  that  he  did.  The  moment  any  man 
accomplishes  anything  that  is  out  of  the  ordinary  track 
of  mediocrity  numerous  observers  are  found  endeavor- 
ing to  detract  from  his  merit  by  impugning  his  ori- 
ginality. Well  and  wisely  did  old  Falstaff  say  that 
"honor  is  a  mere  scutcheon." 

The  circumstance  of  Jefferson's  yim  Crow  d£but  is 
referred  to,  with  another  anecdote  illustrating  his  pre- 
cocity, in  the  "Notes  from  Memory,"  by  Elizabeth 
Jefferson,  his  aunt,  already  quoted  ;  and  William  War- 
ren, his  second  cousin  and  old  comrade,  gives  a  quaint 
rel.it ion  suggestive  of  the  same  unexpected  maturity  in 
childhood.  The  comedian,  Henry  J.  Finn,  going  into 
the  green-room,  one  night,  at  the  Washington  Theatre, 


174  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

dressed  for  the  part  he  was  to  act,  observed  this  child, 
wrapped  in  a  shawl,  and  sitting  quietly  in  a  corner. 
After  various  flourishes  of  action  and  mimicry,  for 
which  he  was  admirable,  he  paused  in  front  of  the 
boy,  and,  not  dreaming  that  such  a  tiny  creature  could 
make  any  reply  whatever,  solemnly  inquired,  "  Well,  my 
little  friend,  what  do  you  think  of  me  ? "  The  child 
looked  at  him,  with  serious,  thoughtful  eyes,  and  gravely 
answered  :  "  I  think  you  are  a  very  wonderful  man." 
Finn  was  impressed,  and  perhaps  a  little  disconcerted, 
by  this  strange,  elf-life  quaintness  and  judicial  sobriety 
of  infancy. 

In  1837,  when  eight  years  old,  this  little  lad  is  found 
at  the  Franklin  Theatre,  New  York,  with  his  parents, 
and  it  is  recorded  that  he  appeared  upon  the  stage, 
September  30th,  in  a  sword-combat,  with  "  Master 
Titus."  Young  Jefferson,  on  this  occasion,  personated 
a  Pirate,  while  young  Titus  opposed  him  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  Sailor ;  and,  at  the  end  of  a  spirited  en- 
counter with  swords,  the  miniature  Pirate  was  prostrate 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  miniature  Sailor  bestrode  him 
in  triumph.  The  master  Titus  who  figured  in  this 
scene  was  a  bright  boy,  —  the  son  of  an  officer  at  the 
City  Hall  of  New  York,  —  but  his  theatrical  career 
was  prematurely  ended,  shortly  after  this  time,  by  the 
accidental  explosion  of  a  gun,  upon  the  stage,  which 
blinded  him.  He  was  acting  in  "  Matteo  Falconi," 
with  Mr.  W.  Sefton,  when  this  disaster  occurred.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jefferson  left  New  York  at  the  end  of  the 
year  1837,  taking  their  children  with  them,  —  Charles 
Burke,  Cornelia,  and  Joseph,  —  and  went  to  Chicago  ; 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  1^5 

and  for  the  next  twelve  years  this  family  led  the  life  of 
the  strolling  player,  wandering  through  the  West  and 
South,  and  even  following  the  armies  of  the  Republic 
into  Mexico  :  so  that,  until  he  came  forward  at  Chan- 
frau's  National  Theatre,  as  Jack  Rackbottle,  in  "Jona- 
than Bradford," — September  10th,  1849,  —  Jefferson 
was  not  again  seen  in  the  metropolis.  Those  interven- 
ing twelve  years  were  crowded  with  vicissitudes  and 
darkened  with  privation  and  trouble.  But,  it  is  an  old 
story,  and  proved  in  the  experience  of  every  man  who 
has  made  a  great  mark  in  the  world,  that 

"  Who  ne'er  his  bread  in  sorrow  ate, 

Who  ne'er  the  mournful  midnight  hours 
Weeping  upon  his  bed  has  sat, 

lie  knows  you  not,  ye  Heavenly  Powers!  " 

Often  in  those  days  the  youthful  Jefferson  participated 
in  performances  that  were  given  in  the  dining-rooms  of 
country  hotels,  without  a  scrap  of  scenery,  and  with  no 
adjunct,  to  create  the  illusion  of  a  stage,  except  a  strip 
of  board  nailed  to  the  floor  sustaining  a  row  of  tallow- 
candles.  Not  tin  less  were  these  representations  given 
with  all  the  earnestness,  force,  and  thorough  care  of 
brilliant  and  accomplished  actors.  This  kind  of  expe- 
rience, indeed,  was  not  uncommon  with  the  children 
of  Thespis,  in  the  earlier  times  of  the  American  stage, 
when,  as  may  be  read  in  Ludlow's  chronicle,  the  stroll- 
ing actors  floated  in  flat  boats  down  the  great  rivers  of 
the  Wot,  and  now  and  then  shot  wild  beasts  upon  their 
banks,  and  often  played  in  the  barns  of  the  friendly  or 
the  frugal-minded  and  acquisitive  fanner.  Land  jour- 
neys from   town  to  town  were  made  in  wagons,  or  ox- 


176 


THE   JEFFERSONS. 


carts,  or  on  foot,  while  cold  and  hunger  not  infrequently 
were  the  harsh  companions  of  this  precarious  life.  Once 
the  Jefferson  company,  roaming  in  a  region  far  from 
any  settlement,  had  found  a  more  than  commonly  spa- 
cious barn,  and  a  farmer  of  more  than  commonly  be- 
nevolent aspect,  and  it  was  thereupon  resolved  to  give 
a  performance  in  this  auspicious  spot.  Written  hand- 
bills, distributed  through  all  the  neighborhood,  pro- 
claimed this  joyful  design.  There  was  a  good  response. 
The  farmers  and  their  wives  and  children,  from  far  and 
near,  came  over  the  hills  to  see  the  play.  The  receipts 
amounted  to  twenty  dollars,  and  this  was  viewed  as 
nothing  less  than  a  godsend  by  the  poor  players,  who 
saw  in  it  the  means  of  food  and  of  a  ride  to  the  next 
town.  But  no  commensurate  allowance,  it  turned  out, 
had  been  made  for  the  hospitality  of-  the  genial  owner 
of  the  barn.  "  I  guess  that  '11  about  pay  my  bill,"  he 
said,  as  he  slipped  the  total  receipts  into  his  pocket ; 
and  so  this  venture  was  rounded  and  settled,  and  the 
rueful  comedians  walked  away.  On  another  occasion, 
it  chanced  that  they  had  hired  a  wagon  to  convey  them 
from  one  town  to  another,  a  distance  of  ten  or  fifteen 
miles,  in  Tennessee,  and  the  driver,  after  proceeding 
some  distance  on  the  journey,  demanded  payment  of 
his  due  ;  when  being  told  that  this  would  be  forthcom- 
ing out  of  the  proceeds  of  their  next  performance,  he 
turned  them  from  his  vehicle,  and  left  them  on  a  forest 
road  in  a  rain-storm,  from  which  predicament  they  were 
rescued,  after  some  hours,  by  a  friendly  ox-cart.  Amid 
scenes  like  these  young  Jefferson  learned  his  early  les- 
sons of  an  actor's  life  ;  and,  aside  from  barely  three 


JEFFERSON   THE   FOURTH.  1 77 

months  at  school  which  he  once  enjoyed,  this  was  the 
only  kind  of  training  that  he  ever  received.  In  Mex- 
ico, when  the  war  broke  out,  in  1845,  he  was  among 
the  camp-followers  of  the  American  army,  and,  with  his 
comrades,  gave  performances  in  tents.  He  saw  Gen- 
eral Taylor  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  ;  he  heard 
the  thunder  of  the  guns  at  Palo  Alto ;  he  stood  beside 
the  tent  in  which  the  gallant  Ringgold  lay  dying ;  he 
witnessed  the  bombardment  of  Metamoras,  and,  two 
nights  after  the  capture  of  that  city,  he  acted  there,  in 
the  Spanish  theatre,  it  is  obvious  from  even  this  pass- 
ins  sussestion  of  the  comedian's  adventures  and  vicis- 
situdes  that  he  has  worn  the  gipsy's  colors  and  known 
the  gipsy's  freedom  ;  that  the  world  has  been  shown  to 
him  without  disguises  ;  and  that  his  nature  has  been  de- 
veloped and  moulded  through  the  discipline  of  labor, 
the  ministry  of  sorrow,  and  the  grand  and  priceless 
tutelage  of  experience. 

The  principal  features  of  the  cast  of  "Jonathan 
Bradford,"  in  which  Jefferson  came  out  at  Chanfrau's 
New  National  Theatre,  in  1849,  and  which  may  be  cited 
here  as  showing  by  what  players  and  influences  he  was 
then  surrounded,  were  as  follows  :  — 

Jonathan  Bradford John  Crocker. 

Dan  McCraisy Redmond  Ryan. 

Jack  Rackbottle Joseph  Jefferson. 

Caleb  Scrimmage Charles  Burke. 

Anne  Bradford Mis-  H.  Ishcrwood. 

Sally  Sighabout Mis.  Sutherland. 

"  In  and  Out  of  Place  "  was  also  acted,  —  with  Mrs. 
Charles  Mestayer  as  Letty.     This  lady,  formerly  Miss 


178  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

Pray,  subsequently  Mrs.  Barney  Williams,  was  now  in  the 
heyday  of  her  buxom  vivacity.  Miss  Gertrude  Dawes 
was  connected  with  the  company,  as  a  dancer.  In 
"  The  Poor  Soldier,"  which  completed  the  bill  for  this 
night,  Charles  Burke  appeared  as  Darby,  W.  H.  Ham- 
ilton as  Patrick,  and  Miss  Lockyer  as  Norah.  Cupid, 
also,  seems  to  have  been  of  this  party ;  for  Mrs.  Suth- 
erland was  afterwards  wedded  to  Burke,  and  Miss 
Lockyer  to  Jefferson.  The  season  lasted  from  Sep- 
tember 10th,  1849,  to  July  6th,  1850,  and  among  the 
players  who  appeared  at  the  National  during  that  time, 
and  with  whom,  accordingly,  Jefferson  was  associated, 
were  Mrs.  Muzzy,  Mrs.  Bowers,  and  her  sister  Miss 
Crocker  (afterwards  Mrs.  F.  B.  Conway),  Mr.  Chan- 
frau,  —  then  famous  as  Mose,  —  Wyzeman  Marshall, 
Barney  Williams,  Harry  Watkins,  Emily  Mestayer, 
Fanny  Herring,  and  Anna  Cruise  (afterwards  Mrs.  W. 
Cowell).  Old  Booth  acted  at  the  National,  in  those 
days  ;  the  inveterate  wag,  Harry  Perry,  was  seen  there  ; 
Edwin  Booth  made  his  first  New  York  appearance  on 
that  stage  ;  Joseph  Procter  there  presented  his  "  Nick 
of  the  Woods  "  ;  John  R.  Scott  displayed  there  the 
exuberant  melo-drama  of  the  past ;  the  late  George 
L.  Fox  began  his  metropolitan  career  in  that  theatre ; 
the  fascinating  Julia  Pelby  passed  across  its  scene,  in 
"  The  Child  of  the  Regiment  "  j  Charles  Dibdin  Pitt 
displayed  his  grand  figure  and  plastic  art,  as  Virginius ; 
and  Yankee  Locke,  James  H.  McVicker,  and  Jim  Crow 
Rice  there  let  slip  the  spirits  of  their  humor,  and  paid 
their  tribute  to  the  rosy  gods  of  mirth.  In  other  quar- 
ters Burton,  Blake,  and  Mitchell  were  the  sovereigns 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  179 

of  laughter ;  Hamblin  and  Forrest  were  the  kings  of 
tragedy ;  and  John  Brougham,  Lester  Wallack,  and 
George  Jordan  held  the  field  of  elegant  comedy, 
against  all  comers,  and  felt,  with  Alexander,  that 
"  none  but  the  brave  deserve  the  fair." 

On  leaving  the  National  Theatre,  in  the  early  Fall  of 
1850,  Jefferson  and  his  wife  proceeded  to  the  old 
Olympic,  where  they  acted  in  November ;  and  about 
this  time  the  young  comedian  applied,  but  without  suc- 
cess,  for  a  position  in  Brougham's  Lyceum,  —  opened 
December  23d,  that  year.  He  wished  to  be  stage- 
manager  ;  and,  had  he  been  accepted,  the  fate  of  that 
theatre,  and  the  whole  after  career  of  the  beloved  and 
lamented  John  Brougham,  might  have  been  very  differ- 
ent from  what  they  were,  —  an  almost  continuous  tissue 
of  misfortunes.  A  little  later,  in  the  season  of  185 1- 
52,  Jefferson  was  attached  to  the  company  of  Anna 
Thillon  and  the  Irish  comedian  Hudson,  who  gave 
musical  plays,  at  Niblo's  Garden ;  and  shortly  after- 
wards at  this  theatre  he  was  associated  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  John  Drew,  William  Rufus  Blake,  Lester  Wallack, 
Mrs.  Stephens,  Mrs.  Conover  (now  Mrs.  J.  H.  Stod- 
dart),  and  Charles  Wheatleigh.  He  then  formed  a 
partnership  with  Mr.  John  Ellsler,  and  took  a  dramatic 
company  through  a  circuit  of  theatres  in  the  South, — 
visiting  Charleston,  Savannah,  Macon,  Atlanta,  Augusta, 
Wilmington,  and  other  cities.  After  this  tour  was  over 
he  settled  for  a  while  in  Philadelphia,  and  then  in 
Baltimore,  —  first  at  the  Holliday  Street  Theatre,  and 
then  at  the  Baltimore  Museum,  where  he  was  mana- 
ger.    In  the  summer  of  1856  he  made  his  first  trip 


180  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

to  Europe,  his  purpose  being  to  study  the  acting  then 
to  be  seen  on  the  London  and  the  Paris  stage.  On 
November  18th,  that  year,  the  beautiful  Laura  Keene 
opened  her  new  theatre,  afterwards  the  second  Olym- 
pic, at  Nos.  622  and  624  Broadway,  New  York,  and 
Jefferson  was  soon  added  to  the  force,  already  very 
strong,  of  her  recruits,  —  a  company  that  included, 
among  others,  George  Jordan,  Charles  Wheatleigh, 
James  G.  Burnett,  J.  H.  Stoddart,  T.  B.  Johnston, 
Charles  Peters,  Ada  Clifton,  Mrs.  Stephens,  Mary  Wells, 
Cornelia  Jefferson,  and  Charlotte  Thompson.  The  sec- 
ond season  opened  on  August  31st,  1857,  with  "The 
Heir  at  Law,"  and  Jefferson  made  a  strong  hit  as  Dr. 
Pangloss.  On  the  opening  night  of  the  third  season 
he  appeared  as  Augustus,  in  "  The  Willow  Copse." 
Charles  W.  Couldock  acted  Luke  Fielding,  Edward  A. 
Sothern  Sir  Richard  Vaughan,  and  Laura  Keene  Rose 
Fielding.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  R.  Blake,  Sara  Stevens, 
Effie  Germon,  and  Charles  Walcot  joined  the  com- 
pany this  season  ;  and  it  was  now  that  Blake,  —  a  great 
actor,  but  one  who  had  a  tendency  to  "  mar  all "  with 
his  coarseness,  —  being  resentful  of  Jefferson's  invariable 
and  excellent  custom  of  expunging  the  indelicate  lines 
from  the  "  old  comedies,"  made  the  vain  attempt  to  stig- 
matize him  as  "  the  Sunday-school  comedian."  There 
was  a  pretty  little  scene  in  the  green-room,  and  Blake 
was  discomfited.  Well  for  him  it  would  have  been  had 
he  heeded  the  lesson.  "  You  take  an  unfair  and  unmanly 
advantage  of  people,"  said  Jefferson,  "  when  you  force 
them  to  listen  to  your  coarseness.  They  are  for  the 
time  imprisoned,  and  have  no  choice  but  to  hear  and 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  l  8  I 

see  your  ill-breeding.  You  have  no  better  right  to  be 
offensive  on  the  stage  than  you  have  in  the  drawing- 
room."  On  October  18th,  for  the  first  time  anywhere, 
was  presented  Tom  Taylor's  comedy  of  "  Our  American 
Cousin,"  and  this  brought  the  crisis  in  Jefferson's  pro- 
fessional life.  He  acted  Asa  Trcnchard  in  this  piece, 
and  he  was  instantly  famous.  Seldom  has  an  actor  found 
a  medium  for  the  expression  of  his  individual  nature  so 
ample  and  so  congenial  as  this  part  proved  to  be  for  the 
denotement  of  what  was  in  Jefferson.  Rustic  grace, 
native  manliness,  unconscious  drollery,  and  unaffected 
pathos,  — given  forth  with  a  firm  artistic  control  and  in 
an  atmosphere  of  assured  repose,  —  it  was  on  all  hands 
agreed  could  never  before  have  been  so  truthfully  and 
beautifully  embodied  and  expressed.  The  new  piece 
ran  for  one  hundred  and  forty  consecutive  nights, —  a 
great  run  for  those  days,  —  and  made  the  success  of 
the  year  and  of  the  theatre.  It  was  now  also  that  the 
late  Edward  A.  Sothern,  reluctantly  accepting  the  then 
trivial  part  of  Lord  Dundreary,  afterwards  so  much 
elaborated,  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fortune,  his  bright 
career,  and  his  permanent  fame. 

This  was  the  full  cast  of  "  Our  American  Cousin  "  :  — 

Asa  Trcnchard Joseph  JEFFERSON. 

Lord  Dundreary Edward  A.  Sothern.* 

Sir  Edward  Trenchard  ....  Edwin  Varrey. 

Lieutenant  Vernon Milnes  Levick. 

Capt.  de  Boots Clinton. 

Coyle James  G.  Burnett.* 

Abel  Murcot <  harles  W.  Couldock. 

Binncy Charles  Peters* 

*  Dead  (1881). 


1 82  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Buddicombe Henry  McDouall. 

Florence  Trenchard Laura  Keene.* 

Mrs.  Mountchessington      .     .     .  Mary  Wells.* 

Augusta Effie  Germon. 

Georgina Mrs.  E.  A.  Sothern. 

Mary  Meredith Sara  Stevens. 

Sharp Miss  Flynn. 

Skillet Mrs.  M.  Levick. 

The  season  of  1858-59  at  Laura  Keene's  Theatre 
lasted  till  July  14th  in  the  latter  year,  when  Jeffer- 
son's relations  with  her  company  were  ended,  and  on 
the  14th  of  September  following  he  appeared  in  the 
dramatic  company  engaged  by  Dion  Boucicault  and 
William  Stuart  for  the  Winter  Garden  Theatre,  then 
opened  with  Mr.  Boucicault's  adaptation  of  "  The 
Cricket  on  the  Hearth."  This  theatre,  originally  called 
Tripler  Hall,  had  been  known  as  the  Metropolitan 
under  W.  E.  Burton's  management,  and  later  as  Laura 
Keene's  Varieties.  Jefferson  appeared  as  Caleb  Plum- 
met-,  and  also  as  Mr.  Bobtail ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  ensuing  six  months  he  was  seen  as  Newman 
Noggs,  Salem  Scudder,  Granby  Gag,  Sir  Brian,  and 
Rip  Van  Winkle.  The  first  presentation  of  Mr.  Bouci- 
cault's powerful  drama  of  "  The  Octoroon  "  (December 
5th,  1859)  was  an  important  incident  of  this  season  ; 
and  on  February  2d,  i860,  a  new  theatrical  version 
of  Dickens's  novel  of  "  Oliver  Twist,"  made  by  Jeffer- 
son himself,  was  for  the  first  time  presented,  —  the  with- 
drawal of  Mr.  Boucicault,  who  left  the  theatre  suddenly, 
on  a  disagreement  as  to  business,  having  opened  the 
way  for  the  presentment  of  new  attractions.     James 

*  Dead  (18S1). 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  I  83 

W.  Wallack,  Jr.,  a  glorious  romantic  actor  and  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  lovable  of  men,  made  an  aston- 
ishing and  memorable  success,  as  Fagin  the  Jew,  and 
Matilda  Heron  acted  with  a  wonderful  wild  power  as 
Nancy.  There  were  in  the  Winter  Garden  company,  at 
one  time,  Jefferson,  Wallack,  Jordan,  George  Jamieson, 
Harry  Pearson,  T.  B.  Johnston,  George  Holland,  A. 
H.  Davenport,  J.  H.  Stoddart,  Matilda  Heron,  Mrs. 
John  Wood,  Sara  Stevens,  lone  Burke,  Mrs.  W.  R. 
Blake,  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Allen.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bouci- 
cault  had  retired ;  proceeding  to  Laura  Keene's  The- 
atre, where  they  remained  from  January  9th  to  May 
12th,  i860.  The  former  here  produced  for  the  first 
time  his  highly  esteemed  plays  of  "The  Heart  of  Mid 
Lothian"  (January  9th)  and  "The  Colleen  Bawn " 
(March  29th).  The  Winter  Garden  season,  mean- 
time, was  still  further  signalized  by  the  production 
(Feb.  19th)  of  Mrs.  Sydney  Frances  Cowell  Bateman's 
play  of  "  Evangeline,"  —  a  work  based  on  Longfellow's 
poem  of  that  name,  —  in  which  Miss  Kate  Bateman 
began  the  more  mature  portion  of  her  professional 
career,  and  in  which  Jefferson  acted  the  humorous 
character,  not  much  to  the  author's  satisfaction.  "  It 
is  the  best  comic  part  my  wife  ever  wrote,"  Bateman 
said  ;  and  "  It  is  the  worst  comic  part  I  ever  played" 
was  Jefferson's  reply.  He  withdrew  from  the  Winter 
Garden  in  the  spring  of  i860,  and  on  May  1 6th 
opened  Laura  Keene's  Theatre  for  a  summer  season, 
which  lasted  till  August  31st.  The  pieces  presented 
were  "The  Invisible  Prince,"  "  Our  Japanese  Em- 
bassy," "  The  Tycoon,  or  Young  America  in  Japan," 


I  84  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

and  "  Our  American  Cousin."  Jefferson,  Sothern, 
and  Couldock  reappeared,  acting  their  original  parts, 
in  the  latter  piece,  while  Mrs.  Wood  enacted  Flor- 
ence. In  Jefferson's  dramatic  company,  at  this  time, 
were  Mrs.  John  Wood,  Mrs.  Henrietta  Chanfrau,  Mrs. 
H.  Vincent,  lone  Burke,  Cornelia  Jefferson,  Hetty 
Warren,  J.  H.  Stoddart,  and  James  G.  Burnett.  In 
those  seasons  at  the  Winter  Garden  and  Laura  Keene's 
Theatre  the  foundations  of  Jefferson's  fame  were  fin- 
ished and  cemented,  and  the  building  of  its  noble  struc- 
ture was  well  begun. 

Early  in  1861  Jefferson's  first  wife  suddenly  died; 
and  this  bereavement,  together  with  apprehension 
prompted  by  his  own  delicate  health,  now  persuaded 
him  to  seek  refuge  and  relief  in  travel  and  new 
scenes.  He  formed,  indeed,  at  this  time  the  resolu- 
tion to  appear  eventually  on  the  London  stage,  and  he 
planned  in  substance  the  exact  career  which  he  has 
since  fulfilled.  There  has  not  been  much  of  either 
luck  or  chance  in  Jefferson's  life ;  and,  though  a  fortu- 
nate man,  he  is  emphatically  a  man  who  has  compelled 
fortune  by  acting  upon  a  distinct  purpose,  wise  ideas, 
and  a  decided  resolution.  At  first  he  proceeded  to 
California,  arriving  in  San  Francisco  on  June  26th, 
1 86 1,  and  on  July  8th,  immediately  following,  he  made 
his  first  appearance  in  that  city.  This  event  occurred 
at  Maguire's  Opera  House,  in  Washington  Street :  and 
Jefferson's  California  season  lasted  till  November 
4th,  that  year,  when  he  made  his  farewell  appearance. 
The  next  day  he  sailed  for  Australia,  and  in  that  great 
country,  with  its  magnificent  climate,  its  beautiful  seen- 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  I  85 

ery,  its  progressive  civilization,  and  its  brightly  intelli- 
gent and  warm-hearted  people,  he  passed  four  of  the 
most  prosperous  and  beneficial  years  of  his  life.  Here 
he  completely  recovered  his  health  ;  and  here  he  won 
golden  opinions,  on  every  hand,  for  his  acting  of  Asa 
Trenchard,  Caleb  Plummer,  Bob  Brierly,  Rip  Van 
Winkle,  Dogberry,  and  many  other  characters.  He 
gained  hosts  of  friends,  too ;  and  among  his  comrades 
at  this  time  were  B.  L.  Farjeon,  the  novelist,  — who  since 
then  has  married  his  eldest  daughter,  —  Henry  Edwards, 
George  Fawcett  Rowe,  -r-  the  best  Micawber  of  our 
stage,  —  Louis  A.  Lewis,  the  composer,  and  James 
Smith,  the  brilliant  editor.  One  of  the  notable  incidents 
of  his  professional  life  at  Melbourne  was  the  success  of 
Rosa  Dunn  (now  Mrs.  Lewis),  who  acted  Mary  Mere- 
dith in  "Our  American  Cousin,"  Hero  in  "Much 
Ado,"  and  kindred  characters,  and  showed  herself  to 
be  a  lovely  actress.  From  Melbourne  he  proceeded 
to  Tasmania,  where  — among  what  Mr.  H.  J.  Byron  calls 
the  Tasmaniacs  —  he  met  with  prodigious  favor.  His 
performance  of  Bob  Brierly,  on  one  occasion,  at  Ho- 
bart  Town,  drew  an  audience  that  included  upwards  of 
six  hundred  ticket-of-leave  men  ;  and,  though  at  first 
this  anything  but  light  brigade  contemplated  him  with 
looks  of  implacable  ferocity,  they  (.aided  by  giving  him 
their  hearts,  in  a  sort  of  hurricane  of  acclamation. 
Leaving  Tasmania,  he  sailed  for  Callao,  and  passed  a 
little  time  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America,  and 
at  the  isthmus  of  Panama.  Mr.  I  'an  Symons,  well  re- 
membered for  his  piquant  acting  of  Dr.  Cains  and 
similar  parts,   had  accompanied    Jefferson   from   Aus- 


1 86  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

tralia,  and  was  thenceforth  for  a  long  time  the  com- 
panion of  his  travels  (Obiit  1871).  At  Panama 
they  took  passage  for  England,  and  on  arriving  in 
London  the  comedian  immediately  commissioned  Mr. 
Boucicault  to  revamp  the  old  play  of  "Rip  Van 
Winkle." 

"He  asked  Boucicault  to  reconstruct  it,"  writes  Clarke  Da- 
vis, in  the  "  Lippincott"  article  previously  cited,  "  and  give  it  the 
weight  of  his  name.  Many  of  the  suggestions  of  changes  came 
from  Jefferson,  and  one  at  least  from  Shakespeare.  Boucicault 
shaped  them  in  a  week,  .  .  .  but  he  had  no  faith  in  the  suc- 
cess of  his  work,  and  told  Jefferson  that  it  could  not  possi- 
bly keep  the  stage  for  more  than  a  month.  While  much  of 
the  first  and  third  act  was  the  conception  of  Burke,  part  of  each 
was  Jefferson's.  .  .  .  The  impressive  ending  of  the  first  act  is 
wholly  Boucicault's,  but  the  climax  of  the  third — the  recogni- 
tion—  is  Shakespeare's.  ...  In  '  Rip  Van  Winkle'  the  child 
struggles  to  a  recognition  of  her  father,  while  in  '  Lear '  the 
father  struggles  to  recognize  his  child.  Compare  the  two  situa- 
tions, —  that  of  Lear  and  Cordelia  with  that  of  Meenie  and  Rip,  — 
and  the  source  of  Boucicault's  inspiration  will  be  apparent ;  and 
only  as  Shakespeare  is  greater  than  Boucicault  is  the  end  of  the 
fourth  act  of  '  Lear '  greater  than  the  third  act  of  '  Rip.'  It 
is  the  most  beautiful  of  all  human  passions,  —  the  love  be- 
tween father  and  child,  —  which  informs  them  both,  and  which 
makes  them  both  take  hold  upon  the  heartstrings  with  a  grasp 
of  iron.  The  second  act  of  '  Rip  Van  Winkle,'  which  is  re- 
markable as  being  wholly  a  monologue,  is  entirely  Jefferson's 
conception." 

The  origin  of  "  Rip  Van  Winkle  "  as  a  play  is  ob- 
scure. The  story,  by  Washington  Irving,  as  every 
reader  knows,  is  contained  in  his  beautiful  "  Sketch 
Book,"  which  was  published  in  18 19.  Bayard  Taylor 
mentions    the   legend   as   of  remote    German   origin. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  I  87 

Hackett  produced  "  Rip  Van  Winkle,"  at  the  old  Park 
Theatre,  New  York,  on  April  2  2d,  1830  ;  and  probably 
Hackett  was  himself  the  author  of  the  version  that  he 
produced.  Charles  B.  Parsons,  however,  an  actor  who 
turned  clergyman  (1803-1S71),  had  acted-/?//,  at  least 
six  months  before  that  date,  in  Cincinnati.  This  is 
mentioned  by  Ludlow,  who  says  that  he  himself  bought 
a  MS.  copy  of  the  play,  in  New  York,  in  the  summer  of 
1828,  and  produced  it,  in  Cincinnati,  the  next  season  ;* 
and  the  same  writer  notices  that  Charles  Burke,  who 

*  "  Rip  Van  Winkle  "  was  presented  at  the  Walnut  Street  Theatre, 
Philadelphia,  as  early  as  October  30th,  1S29,  with  William  Chapman 
as/?//.  Mrs.  Samuel  Chapman  (Elizabeth  Jefferson),  Miss  Anderson 
(now  either  Mrs.  Saunders  or  Mrs.  Germon),  and  "  J.  Jefferson  "  (prob- 
ably John),  were  in  the  cast.  The  piece  is  thought  to  have  been  of  Eng- 
lish origin,  and  written  by  a  Mr.  Kerr.  This  may  have  been  another 
draft  of  the  same  play  that  Ludlow  produced  in  Cincinnati,  —  at  about 
the  same  time,  or  a  little  earlier.  Hackett  supplemented  his  first  Park 
Theatre  essay  in  the  part  of  Rip  by  producing  the  old  piece  at  the  Bow- 
ery, New  York,  August  ioth,  1830;  and  on  April  15th,  1831,  he  again 
brought  out  "  Rip  Van  Winkle"'  at  the  Park, —  "altered,"  by  himself, 
"from  a  piece  written  and  produced  in  London."  The  same  actor  pre- 
sented Bernard's  version,  for  the  first  time  in  America,  at  the  New  York 
Park,  September  .j th,  1833.  The  eccentric  and  generous  Tom  Flynn 
(1S04-1849)  acted  Rip,  July  29th,  1833,  at  the  Richmond  Hill  Theatre, 
New  York.  A  version  by  Mr.  John  II.  Hewitt,  of  Baltimore,  was  per- 
formed at  the  Front  Street  Theatre,  in  that  city,  in  the  season  of  1833- 
34,  with  William  Ishcrwood  as  Rip.  Charles  Burke  acted  the  part  at 
the  Xew  National,  January  ;th,  1850,  having  made  for  himself  an  amend- 
ment of  the  old  piece,  which  Hackett  subsequently  preferred  to  the 
Bernard  version.  The  subject  seems  to  have  been  viewed  as  common 
property.  It  will  be  observed  that  Parsons,  (  hapman,  Hackett.  Yates, 
Flynn,  Ishcrwood,  and  Burke,  were  all  predecessors  of  Jefferson  in  Rip 
Van  \\'inkli\  and  probably  there  were  others;  but  also  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  Jefferson  has  treated  the  part  in  an  entirely  original  man- 
ner, lifting  it  into  the  realm  of  poetry,  and  making  it  a  new  character. 
—  W.  \V. 


1 88  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

long  afterwards  followed  Hackett  in  the  part,  made  use 
of  a  stage  version  similar  to  this  one.    The  Burke  copy, 
though,  was  largely   his   own   work.      Hackett  visited 
England  in  1S32  (it  was  his  second  expedition  thither), 
and  at  that  time  Bayle  Bernard  made  for  him  a  new 
draft  of  the  piece,  in  which  he  appeared  in  London. 
Bernard  had  already  made  one  for  Yates,  which  was 
produced,  in  that  same  year,  at  the  London  Adelphi, 
with  Yates,  John  Reeve,  J.  B.  Buckstone,  O.  Smith, 
W.  Bennett,  and  Miss  Novello  in  the  cast.     It  is,  per- 
haps, impossible  to  ascertain  who  made  the  first  play 
that  was  ever  acted  on  the  subject  of  "  Rip  Van  Win- 
kle."    The   Hackett  copy  may  have  been  bought  by 
the  comedian   from   some  obscure    literary  hack,  and 
the  Ludlow  copy  may  have  come  from  the  same  source. 
The  evidence,  though,  seems  to  prove  that,  whoever 
may  have  been  the  first  dramatist  of  the  subject,  Par- 
sons was  the  first  representative  of  the  part.    The  Burke 
version  was  not  produced  till  1849,  at  the  Arch  Street 
Theatre,  Philadelphia,  —  Burke  acting  Rip,  and  Jeffer- 
son acting  the  innkeeper,  Scth.    In  after  years  Hackett 
adopted  this  copy,  and  so  did  Jefferson  ;  but  the  latter 
comedian  made  changes  in  its  construction  and  text. 
It  was  a  mournful  sort  of  illustration  of  the  mutability  of 
human  affairs  that  as  the  fame  of  Hackett  declined  the 
fame  of  Jefferson  arose,  till  at  last  there  came  a  time  when 
the  old  actor  of  Rip  laid  aside  the  part,  and  was  content 
to  sit  in  front,  among  the  admiring  spectators  of  the  Rip 
Van  Winkle  of  the  new  age.     Jefferson's  performance  • 
of  Rip  is  a  very  different  work  from  Hackett's,  and  a 
better  and  greater  work  ;  but  not  less  sad  was  the  moral 
to  be  drawn  from  that  strange  spectacle  :  — 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  1 89 

"  Tis  certain,  greatness,  once  fallen  out  with  fortune, 
Must  fall  out  with  men  too  :    What  the  cleclin'cl  is 
He  shall  as  soon  read  in  the  eyes  of  others 
As  feel  in  his  own  fall.  .  .  . 
The  present  eye  praises  the  present  object." 

The  Burke  copy  answered  Jefferson's  purpose  for  a 
long  time  ;  but,  at  last,  under  his  numerous  changes,  it 
became  almost  as  nebulous  as  the  unwritten  constitu- 
tion of  England  ;  and  it  was  the  sense  of  this  fact, 
together  with  the  wish  to  see  his  own  idea  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  work  put  into  a  practicable  shape,  that 
led  him  to  employ  the  ingenious  and  sparkling  pen  of 
Mr.  Boucicault,  in  its  reconstruction.  The  piece,  as  it 
now  stands,  was  written,  and,  on  September  4th,  1865, 
Jefferson  appeared  in  it,  at  the  London  Adelphi.  His 
success  was  great,  and  it  has  ripened  into  unquestion- 
able, unassailable,  auspicious,  and  beneficent  perma- 
nence. 

A  singular  incident  preceded  this  debut.  On  the 
night  before  his  first  appearance  in  London,  Jefferson, 
who  was  naturally  nervous  and  apprehensive,  retired  to 
his  apartment,  and,  in  a  mood  of  intense  thought  and  ab 
straction,  proceeded  to  make  himself  up  for  the  third  act 
of"  Rip  Van  Winkle."  This  done,  and  quite  oblivious 
of  his  surroundings,  he  now  began  to  act  the  part.  Dom- 
ini- Sampson  himself  was  never  more  absent-minded. 
The  house,  it  should  be  said,  fronted  on  Regent  Street. 
The  window-curtains  happened  to  be  raised,  and  the 
room  was  brightly  lighted,  so  that  the  view  from  with- 
out was  commodious  and  uninterrupted.  Not  many 
minutes  passed   before   it  began   to  be  improved.     A 


190  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

London  crowd  is  quick  to  assemble,  and,  when  assem- 
bled, difficult  to  disperse.  So  it  proved  now.  Inside, 
the  absorbed  and  inadvertent  comedian  unconcernedly 
went  on  acting  Rip  Van  Winkle  ;  outside,  the  curious 
multitude,  thinking  him  a  sort  of  comic  lunatic,  choked 
up  the  street  till  it  became  impassable.  The  police 
were  summoned,  and  with  difficulty  fought  their  way 
to  the  spot.  The  landlady  was  finally  reached  and 
alarmed  ;  and  the  astonished  actor,  brought  back  to 
the  world  by  a  clamor  at  his  door,  inquiring  if  he  was 
ill,  at  length  realized  the  situation,  and  suspended  his 
rehearsal. 

The  British  public  instantly  took  Rip  Van  Winkle  to 
its  heart.  "  Mr.  Jefferson  achieved  a  triumphant  suc- 
cess on  the  night  of  his  first  appearance  in  London," 
says  Mr.  C.  E.  Pascoe  ["The  Dramatic  List,"  p.  190], 
"  and  he  has  now  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the 
most  genuine  artists  who  have  at  any  time  appeared  on 
the  English  stage."  "  In  Mr.  Jefferson's  hands,"  wrote 
the  broad-minded,  true,  and  kindly  John  Oxenford,  "the 
character  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  becomes  the  vehicle  for 
an  extremely  refined  psychological  exhibition." 

Jefferson  arrived  in  New  York,  on  his  return  from 
England,  August  13th,  1866,  and  on  September  3d  ap- 
peared at  the  Olympic  Theatre,  as  Rip  Van  Winkle. 
The  performance  was  received  with  delight  by  all  classes 
of  spectators,  and  the  fame  of  its  beauty  ran  over  the 
land  like  fire  along  the  prairies.  The  comedian  also 
acted  in  this  engagement  Asa  Trenchard,  Caleb  Plitm- 
?ner,  Mr.  Woodcock,  and  Tobias  Shortcut,  after  which 
he  departed  on  a  tour  of  the  West  and  South.     The 


JEFFERSON   THE  FOURTH.  19 1 

next  year,  1867,  he  was  at  the  Olympic  Theatre  again 
(from  September  9th  to  October  26th),  and  played  noth- 
ing but  Rip  Van  Winkle,  which  drew  crowded  houses  ; 
and,  on  his  departure,  he  left  "  A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream  "  on  that  stage,  with  a  panorama  by  Telbin, 
which  he  had  brought  from  England.  Mr.  George  L. 
Fox  impersonated  Bottom.  The  beautiful  play  had  a 
run  of  one  hundred  consecutive  representations.  Dur- 
ing his  tour  of  the  country  this  year,  Jefferson  put 
into  rehearsal,  at  the  Varieties  Theatre,  New  Orleans, 
then  managed  by  the  sparkling  and  popular  light  come- 
dian William  R.  Floyd,  the  comedy  of  "  Across  the 
Atlantic,"  by  Tom  Robertson  ;  but,  feeling  dissatisfied 
with  himself  in  the  character  of  Col.  White,  he  sent 
back  the  piece  to  its  author,  with  $500,  and  Robertson 
subsequently  sold  it  to  Sothern,  by  whom  it  was  im- 
proved in  the  text,  and  produced  at  the  London  Hay- 
market,  under  the  title  of  "  Home."  Mr.  Lester  Wallack 
afterwards  brought  it  out  at  his  theatre  in  New  York, 
and  to  this  day  Col.  JV/iite  continues  to  be  one  of  the 
happiest  impersonations  of  that  polished,  glittering,  and 
delightful  comedian.  The  summer  of  1868  was  passed 
by  Jefferson  among  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania  ; 
but  on  August  31st  he  came  out  at  McVicker's  Theatre, 
Chicago,  and  it  was  then  that  the  Rev.  Robert  Collyer 
said  of  him  :  — 

"  T  never  saw  such  power,  T  never  remarked  such  nature,  in 
any  Christian  pulpit  that  it  was  ever  my  privilege  to  sit  under, 
as  in  Joseph  Jefferson's  Rip  Van  Winkle.  .  ■  .  So  simple, 
so  true,  so  beautiful,  so  moral!  No  sermon  written  in  the 
world,  except  that  of  Christ  when  he  stood  with  the  adulterous 


I92  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

woman,  ever  illustrated  the  power  of  love,  to  conquer  evil  and 
to  win  the  wanderer,  as  that  little  part  does,  so  perfectly  em- 
bodied by  this  genius  which  God  has  given  us,  to  show  in  the 
drama  the  power  of  love  over  the  sins  of  the  race." 

Jefferson  had  married  in  1867.  In  1869  he  bought 
a  large  estate  near  Hohokus,  New  Jersey,  in  the  lovely 
little  valley  of  the  Saddle  River,  and  another,  a  lonely 
and  gorgeous  tropical  island,  ten  miles  west  of  New 
Iberia,  in  Louisiana,  hard  by  the  prairie  home  of  the 
exiled  Acadians  of  "Evangeline."  On  May  4th,  that 
year,  he  began  an  engagement  in  Boston ';  and  from 
August  2d  till  September  18th  he  was  at  Edwin  Booth's 
new  theatre  in  New  York,  still  enacting  Rip  Van  Win- 
kle. Then  came  the  most  remarkable  engagement  he 
ever  played  in  that  city,  beginning  on  August  15th, 
1870,  and  lasting  till  January  7th,  18  71,  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  Rip,  and  attended  by  a  constant  multitude. 
Between  Jefferson  and  Edwin  Booth  —  whom  no  man 
ever  knew  well  except  to  honor  and  lo.ve,  and  whose 
great  services  to  the  stage  have  equally  been  a  blessing 
to  his  countrymen  and  a  source  of  pure  and  permanent 
renown  to  himself — there  has  existed  for  many  years 
an  affectionate  friendship  ;  and,  to  theatrical  readers  at 
least,  the  fact  will  have  its  peculiar  significance,  that  no 
scrap  of  writing  was  ever  used  between  them  in  the 
business  of  these  engagements.  The  year  1872  was 
signalized  by  the  severe  and  dangerous  illness  of  the 
comedian,  who  was  attacked  with  glaucoma ;  but  a 
skilful  operation,  on  his  left  eye,  performed  by  Dr. 
Reuling,  of  Baltimore,  early  in  June,  averted  blind- 
ness, and  soon  restored  his  health.      He  reappeared 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  193 

upon  the  stage,  January  1st,  1873,  at  Ford's  Opera 
House,  Baltimore,  and  was  received  with  an  affec- 
tionate greeting,  in  which  the  whole  country  joined. 
On  July  9th,  in  the  ensuing  summer,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  by  William  Warren,  the  comedian,  he  sailed 
for  England  ;  but  this  was  a  pleasure  trip,  and  he  did 
not  act  while  abroad.  The  return  voyage  began  on 
August  1 6th,  and  on  September  1st  Rip  Van  Winkle 
was  again  seen  at  Booth's  Theatre.  The  next  year, 
1874,  on  September  3d,  he  began  his  farewell  engage- 
ment at  the  same  house,  and  in  June,  1875,  ne  went 
again  to  England,  —  this  time  on  a  professional  expe- 
dition. He  remained  abroad  two  years  and  a  half, 
his  first  London  engagement,  at  the  Princess's,  ex- 
tending from  November  1st,  1875,  to  April  29th,  1876, 
and  his  second,  from  Easter,  1877,  to  the  ensuing  mid- 
summer, when  he  went  to  the  Haymarket  for  a  brief 
season  of  farces,  under  the  management  of  John  S. 
Clarke.  In  London,  and  in  other  cities  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, his  acting  continued  to  stimulate  the  public  enthu- 
siasm, and  was  everywhere  hailed  with  sympathy  and 
admiration.  "  Mr.  Jefferson's  departure,"  said  the 
"  London  Telegraph,"  "  means  the  loss  of  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  intellectual  forms  of  amusement. 
.  .  .  His  pii  ture  is  engraven  on  our  memories.  .  .  . 
There  will  be  no  lack  of  smiling  faces  when  London  is 
once  more  favored  with  the  presence  of  so  genial,  ac- 
complished, and  sympathetic  an  artist." 

Jefferson  arrived  home  on  October  17th,  1877,  and 
on  October  28th,  at  Booth's  Theatre,  under  the  man- 
agement   of    Mr.   Augustin    Daly,   again    accosted   his 


194  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

countrymen  as  Rip  Van  Winkle.  A  warm-hearted 
welcome  greeted  him,  and  he  again  made  a  successful 
tour  of  the  United  States.  In  1878,  he  paid  a  second 
visit  to  California,  and  on  December  16th,  that  year 
he  acted  in  New  York,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Theatre, 
under  the  direction  of  Daniel  H.  Harkins  and  Stephen 
Fiske.  After  that  he  was  absent  from  the  metropolis 
of  the  East  till  October,  1879,  when  he  appeared  at  the 
Grand  Opera  House ;  and  in  that  theatre  his  New 
York  engagements  have  since  been  fulfilled.  In  the 
autumn  of  1 8S0  he  effected,  at  the  Arch  Street  Thea- 
tre, Philadelphia,  a  careful  and  brilliant  revival  of  "  The 
Rivals,"  and  made  an  extraordinary  hit  as  Bob  Acres  ; 
and  his  professional  exertions  have  since  been  divided 
between  Acres  and  Rip  Van  Winkle.  These  two 
characters,  together  with  Asa  Trenchard,  Caleb  Plum- 
mer,  Dr.  Pangloss,  Dr.  Ollapod,  Bob  Briefly,  Mr. 
Golightly,  Tobias  Shortcut,  Hugh  de  Brass,  and  Tracy 
Coach  are  the  only  parts  that  Jefferson  has  acted  within 
the  last  fifteen  years. 

Jefferson  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
to  whom  he  was  wedded  on  May  19th,  1850,  in  New 
York,  was  Margaret  Clements  Lockyer,  a  native  of 
Burnham,  Somersetshire,  England,  born  September 
6th,  1832,  and  brought  to  America,  by  her  parents, 
while  yet  a  child.  She  went  on  the  stage  when  about 
sixteen  years  old,  and  early  in  her  career  was  con- 
nected with  the  Museum  at  Troy,  New  York.  Ireland 
mentions  that  she  appeared  at  the  Bowery  Theatre, 
New  York,  on  November  6th,  1847,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  benefit  of  Thomas  H.   Blakeley.      "  Chanfrau 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  195 

and  Mrs.  Timm,  from  the  Olympic,  enacted  Jere?7iiah 
Clip  and  Jane  Chatterly,  in  '  The  Widow's  Victim,' 
and  a  pas  de  deux  was  executed  by  the  Misses  Barber 
and  Lockyer.  The  latter  was  young  and  talented." 
She  is  mentioned,  on  another  occasion,  as  having  acted 
Norah,  in  "The  Poor  Soldier."  *  At  the  time  of  her 
meeting  and  marriage  with  Jefferson  she  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  company  at  the  National  Theatre,  New 
York.  After  her  marriage  she  did  not  continuously 
pursue  the  dramatic  profession,  nor  did  she  at  any 
time  acquire  exceptional  distinction  as  an  actress. 
Her  death  occurred  on  February  1 8th,  1861,  in 
Twelfth  Street,  New  York,  and  she  was  buried  at 
Cypress  Hills,  Long  Island. 

The  children  of  this  union  were  the  following :  — 

1.  Charles  Burke  Jefferson.  —  Born  at  Macon,  Georgia, 
March  20th,  1S51.  This  son  adopted  the  stage,  and  made  his 
fust  regular  professional  appearance,  November  26th,  1869,  at 
McVicker's  Theatre,  Chicago.  The  occasion  was  that  of  his 
father's  benefit,  and  Charles,  a  handsome  youth,  of  eighteen,  acted 
Dickory,  in  "  The  Spectre  Bridegroom."  lie  has  acted  other 
parts  since  then,  but  has  not  steadily  pursued  the  dramatic  pro- 
fession, and  is  now  in  retirement  from  the  stage.  He  mani- 
fested unmistakable  talents  for  acting. 

2.  Makc  \i;r.  r  Jam  J]  1  1  1  rson.  —  Born  at  New  York,  July 
4th,  1S53.  She  was  never  on  the  Stage,  and  is  now  the  wife  of 
Benjamin  L.  Farjeon,  the  distinguished  English  novelist,  to 
whom  she  was  married,  in  London,  in  June,  1877. 

3.  Frances  Flor]  v  i  Jeffi  rson. —  born  at  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  July  9th,  1855;  died  there.  December  12th,  1S55. 

*  "  The  Poor  Soldier."  Comic  Opera,  by  John  0"Keefe.  179S. 
Altered,  and  improved,  by  the  author,  from  his  earlier  farce  (i~S3)of 
"  The  Shamrock."  —  Wood  mentions  that  this  piece  was  a  favorite  with 
George  Washington. —  W.  \V. 


1 96  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

4.  Joseph  Jefferson,  Jr.  —  Born  at  Richmond,  Virginia, 
in  September,  1856;  died  there  in  1857. 

5.  Thomas  Jefferson.  —  Born  at  New  York  in  1857.  This 
is  Jefferson  the  Fifth.  In  early  boyhood  he  was  sent  to 
London,  and  afterwards  to  Paris,  to  be  educated.  Having 
adopted  the  stage,  he  made  his  first  regular  professional  ap- 
pearance, at  Edinburgh,  in  the  character  of  Coccles,  in  "  Rip 
Van  Winkle,"  in  1S77,  acting  in  his  father's  theatrical  com- 
pany. He  was  engaged  at  Wallack's  Theatre,  New  York,  in 
January,  1880,  for  the  part  of  Anatole,  in  "  A  Scrap  of  Paper," 
and  he  again  played  the  same  part  there,  in  March,  1881.  When 
his  father  revived  "The  Rivals,"  September  13th,  1880,  at  the 
Arch  Street  Theatre,  Philadelphia,  he  was  cast  for  Fag,  and  in 
that  mercurial  type  of  bland  mendacity  and  good-natured  assur- 
ance he  has  made  a  pleasing  impression.  The  earnest  good 
wishes  of  many  friends  already  anticipate  for  him  a  bright 
career. 

6.  Josephine  Duff  Jefferson.  —  Born  at  New  York, 
November  10th,  1S59.     She  never  was  on  the  stage. 

The  second  marriage  of  Mr.  Jefferson  occurred  on 
December  20th,  1867,  at  Chicago.  His  bride  was 
Miss  Sarah  Warren,  a  daughter  of  his  father's  second 
cousin,  Mr.  Henry  Warren,  brother  of  the  Boston  co- 
median.    The  children  of  this  marriage  are  :  — 

1.  Joseph  Warren  Jefferson.  —  Born  at  New  York,  July 
6th,  1869. 

2.  Henry  Jefferson.  —  Born  at  Chicago,  Illinois.  Died, 
at  London,  England,  November  5th,  1875.  Buried  at  Cypress 
Hills,  L.  I. 

3.  William  Winter  Jefferson.  —  Born  in  Bedford  House, 
Tavistock  Square,  London,  April  25th,  1876,  and  christened,  on 
June  27th,  the  same  year,  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  — 
the  Shakespeare  church  —  at  Stratford  on  Avon. 

Jefferson  the  Fourth,  resembling  his  grandfather  in 
this  as  in  some  other  particulars,  has  shown  remark- 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  197 

able  versatility  in  the  dramatic  art,  not  only  by  the 
wealth  of  contrasted  attributes  lavished  by  him  upon 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  which  he  has  made  almost  a  com- 
plete epitome  of  human  nature  and  representative 
experience,  but  by  the  number  and  variety  of  the 
parts  that  he  has  acted.  A  list  of  some  of  these 
characters  is  given  here  :  — 


PARTS  ACTED  BY  JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH. 

Rip  Van  Winkle,  in  the  drama  of  that  name.  Old  version 
1'.  Charl  Burke.  1S49.  New  one  by  Dion  Boucicault.  Adel- 
phi,  London.      1S65. 

Bob  Acres,  in  "  The  Rivals." 

Dogberry  and  also  Verges,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of 
".Much    Ado  About  Nothing." 

Touchstone,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "As  You  Like  It." 

Rodepgo,  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "Othello." 

Dr.  Ollapod,  and  also  Stephen  Harrowby,  in  "  The  Poor  Gen- 
tleman." 

Slender,  in  Shakespeare's  comedy  of  "  The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor." 

Peter,  in  "  The   Stranger." 

Dickory,  in  "The  Spectre  l!ridcgroom." 

Tobias  Shortcut,  in  "The  Spitfire."  Farce.  By  J.  M.  Morton, 
nt  Garden,  183S. 

Osric,  and  also  the  First  and  the  Second  Gravedigger,  in 
Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "  Hamlet." 

Donaldbain,  Malcolm,  and  the  Three  Witches,  in  Shakespeare's 
tragedy  of  "  Macbeth." 

The  Lord  Mayor,  Catesby,  Oxford,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
the  Duke  of  York,  in  (Jibber's  version  of  Shakespeare's  tragedy 
of  "  Richard  the  Third." 

Peter,  and  also  Paris,  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "  Romeo 
and  Juliet." 


198  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Oswald,  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "  King  Lear." 

Dr.  Pangloss,  in  "  The  Heir  at  Law." 

Dan,  in  "John  Bull."  Comedy.  By  George  Colman,  Jr. 
Covent  Garden,  1S05. 

Goldfinch,  in  "  The  Road  to  Ruin."  Comedy.  By  Thomas 
Holcroft.     Covent  Garden,  1792. 

Sampson  Rawbold,  in  "  The  Iron  Chest."  Tragedy.  By 
George  Colman,  Jr.  Drury  Lane,  1796.  Music  by  Storace. 
Kemble  was  the  original  Sir  Edward  Mortimer.  This  piece 
was  based  on  William  Godwin's  novel  of  "  Caleb  Williams," 
and  should  be  contrasted  with  that  tale,  for  an  apt  illustration 
of  the  difference  between  narrative  and  dramatic  writing. 

Caleb  Qnotern,  and  also  John  Lump,  in  "  The  Review,  or  The 
Wags  of  Windsor."  Farce.  By  George  Colman,  Jr.  Hay- 
market.  Authorized  edition,  1808.  Fawcett  was  the  original 
Caleb  Qiwtcm.  Junius  Brutus  Booth  was  fond  of  acting  John 
Lump,  and  Jefferson  the  Fourth  has  acted  Caleb  Quotem  to  the 
John  Lump  of  that  tragedian. 

Tony  Lumpkin,  in  "  She  Stoops  To  Conquer."  Comedy. 
By  Oliver  Goldsmith.     Covent  Garden,  1773. 

Francis,  in  Shakespeare's  historical  play  of  "  Henry  the 
Fourth." 

Whiskerandos,  in  "  The  Critic." 

Bob,  in  "  Old  Heads  and  Young  Hearts."  Comedy.  By  Dion 
Boucicault.     Haymarket. 

Granby  Gag,  in  "  Jenny  Lind." 

Sir  Brian,  in  "  Ivanhoe."  Burlesque.  By  the  Brough 
Brothers. 

Joe  Meggs,  in  "  The  Parish  Clerk."  Drama.  By  Dion  Bou- 
cicault. Contains  one  beautiful  situation.  Has  never  been 
acted  in  America. 

Bob  Brierly,  in  "  The  Ticket-of-Leave  Man."  Drama.  By 
Tom  Taylor.      1863. 

Mr.  Lullaby,  in  "  A  Conjugal  Lesson." 

Mr.  Golightly,  in  "  Lend  Me  Five  Shillings." 

Jacques  Strop,  in  "  Robert  Macaire." 

Bob  Trickett,  in  "  An  Alarming  Sacrifice."  The  first  Mrs. 
Jefferson  played  Susan  Sweetapple. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  199 

Fainwould,  in  "  Raising  the  Wind."  Farce.  By  James  Ken- 
ney.     Covent  Garden,  1803. 

Dr.  Smugface,  in  "  A  Budget  of  Blunders."  Farce.  By 
Prince  Hoare.     Covent  Garden,  1S10. 

Simon,  in  "  The   Rendezvous." 

Kaserac,  in  "  Aladdin." 

Shecpface,  in  "  The  Village  Lawyer."     Farce.     1795. 

Fixture,  in  "A  Roland  For  an  Oliver." 

Pillicoddy,  in  "  Poor  Pillicoddy."    Farce.    By  J.  M.  Morton. 

Slasher,  in  "  Slasher  and  Crasher."  Farce.  By  J.  M.  Mor- 
ton. 

Box,  and  also  Cox,  in  "  Box  and  Cox."  Farce.  By  J.  M. 
Morton.  Haymarket,  1847.  Jefferson  was  the  original  Cox,  in 
America,  and  Burton  the  original  Box  —  at  the  Arch  Street 
Theatre,-  Philadelphia,  in  1S48. 

Mr.  Fluffy,  in  "  Mother  and  Child." 

Mr.  Brown,  in  the  farce  of  "  My  Neighbor's  Wife." 

Oliver  Dobbs,  in  "  Agnes  de  Vere." 

Andre~.ii,  the  Savoyard,  in  "  Isabel." 

Air.  Gilman,  in  "  The  Happiest  Day  of  My  Life." 

Mr.  Timid,  in  "  The  Dead  Shot." 

La  Fleur,  in  "  Animal  Magnetism."  Farce.  By  Elizabeth 
Inchbald.     Covent  Garden,  1788. 

Isaac,  in  "  Lucille." 

Ariken,  in  "  The  Carpenter  of  Rouen." 

Figaro,  in  "The  Barber  of  Seville." 

Robin,  in  "  The  Waterman,  or  the  First  of  August."  Ballad 
opera.     By  Charles  Dibdin.     Haymarket,  1774. 

Pan,  in  "  Midas."  Burlesque.  By  Kane  O'Ifara.  Covent 
Garden,  1 764-1 771. 

Prop,  in  "  Xo  Song  no  Supper." 

Salem  Scudder,  in  "  The  Octoroon."  Drama.  By  Dion  Bou- 
cicault.     Winter  Garden,  New  York,  1859. 

Joshua  Butterby,  in  "  Victims."     Comedy.     By  Tom  Taylor. 

Mazcppa,  in  the  burlesque  of  that  name,  by  H.  J.  Byron. 

John  Quill,  in  "  Beauty  and  the  Beast." 

The  Sentinel,  in  "  Pizarro." 

Crabtree,  Moses,  and  Trip,  in  "The  School  for  Scandal." 


200  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

The  Infant  Fur ibond,  in  "The  Invisible  Prince." 

Hugh  Chalcote,  in  "  Ours."     Comedy.     By  Tom  Robertson. 

Mr.  Woodcock,  in  "  Woodcock's  Little  Game." 

Hans  Morritz,  in  "  Somebody  Else." 

James,  in  "Blue  Devils." 

Toby  Twinkle,  in  "  All  that  Glitters  is  Not  Gold." 

Caleb  Plummer,  in  "  Dot,  or  The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth." 
Drama.  By  Dion  Boucicault.  Based  on  the  beautiful  Christ- 
mas story  by  Charles  Dickens. 

Newman  Hoggs,  in  "  Nicholas  Nickleby."  Drama.  By  Dion 
Boucicault.     Based  on  the  novel  by  Dickens. 

Asa  Trenchard,  in  "  Our  American  Cousin."  Drama.  By 
Tom  Taylor.     Laura  Keene's  Theatre,  New  York,  1858. 

Tracy  Coach,  in  "  Baby." 

Pierrot,  in  "  Linda,  The  Pearl  of  Chamouni." 

Wyndham,  in  "  The  Handsome  Husband." 

Dick,  in  "  Paddy  the  Piper."  Drama.  By  James  Pilgrim. 
New  National  Theatre,  New  York,  October  6th,  1850. 

The  Steward,  in  "The  Child  of  the  Regiment." 

Pierre  Rouge,  in  "  The  Husband  of  an  Hour."  Drama.  By 
Edmund  Falconer. 

Septimus,  in  "  My  Son  Diana." 

Dr.  Bothcrby,  in  "An  Unequal  Match."  Comedy.  By  Tom 
Taylor. 

Dard,  in  "  White  Lies."  Drama.  By  Cyril  Turner.  Based 
on  the  novel,  so  named,  by  Charles  Reade,  and  of  French 
origin. 

Gloss,  in  "  Doublefaced  People."    Comedy.    By  H.  Courtney. 

Beppo,  in  "  Fra  Diavolo."     Burlesque.     By  H.  J.  Byron. 

Yonkers,  in  "Chamooni  the  Third."  Burlesque.  By  Dion 
Boucicault.     Winter  Garden,  New  York,  1859. 

C.  T  Item,  and  also  The  Tycoon,  in  "  The  Tycoon,  or  Young 
America  in  Japan."  Burlesque.  By  William  Brough.  Adapted 
by  Fitz-James  O'Brien  and  Joseph  Jefferson.  Olympic,  New 
York,  i860. 

Old  Phil  Stapleton,  in  "  Old  Phil's  Birthday." 

Joe  Wadd,  in  "The  Hope  of  the  Family." 


JEFFE/tSON  THE   FOURTH.  201 

JEFFERSON   AS   RIP   VAN   WINKLE. 

Every  reader  of  Washington  Irving  knows  the  story# 
of  Rip  Van  Winkle's  adventure  on  the  Kaatskill  Moun- 
tains, —  that  delightful,  romantic  idyl,  in  which  charac- 
ter, humor,  and  fancy  are  so  delicately  blended.  Under 
the  spell  of  Jefferson's  acting  we  are  transported  into 
the  past,  and  made  to  see,  as  with  bodily  eyes,  the  old- 
fashioned  Dutch  civilization  as  it  crept  up  the  borders 
of  the  Hudson  :  the  quaint  and  quiet  villages ;  the 
stout  Hollanders,  with  their  pipes  and  schnapps ;  the 
loves  and  troubles  of  an  elder  generation.  It  is  a 
calmer  life  than  ours  ;  yet  the  same  elements  compose 
it.  Here  is  a  mean  and  cruel  schemer  making  a  good- 
hearted  man  his  victim,  and  thriving  on  the  weakness 
that  he  so  well  knows  how  to  betray.  Here  is  parental 
love,  tried,  as  it  often  is,  by  sad  cares  ;  and  here  the 
love  of  young  and  hopeful  hearts,  blooming  amid 
flowers,  sunshine,  music,  and  happiness.  Rip  Van 
Winkle  never  seemed  so  lovable  as  he  does  in  the 
form  of  this  great  actor,  standing  thus  in  poetic  relief 
against  the  background  of  real  life.  Jefferson  makes 
him  our  familiar  friend.  We  see  that  Rip  is  a  weak, 
vacillating  fellow,  fond  of  his  bottle  and  his  ease,  but 
—  beneath  all  his  rags  and  tatters,  of  character  as  well 
as  raiment  —  good  to  the  core.  We  understand  why 
the  village  children  love  him,  why  the  dogs  run  after 
him  with  joy,  and  why  the  jolly  boys  at  the  tavern  wel- 
come his  song  and  story  and  genial  companionship. 
He  has  wasted  his  fortune  and  impoverished  his  wife 
and   child,  and  we   know  that   he  is   much  to  blame. 


202  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

He  knows  it  too ;  and  his  talk  with  the  children  shows 
how  keenly  he  feels  the  consequence  of  a  weakness 
♦which  yet  he  is  unable  to  atone  for  or  subdue.  It  is 
in  these  minute  touches  that  Jefferson  shows  his  sym- 
pathetic study  of  human  nature  ;  his  intuitive  percep- 
tion, looking  quite  through  the  hearts  and  thoughts 
of  men.  The  observer  sees  this  in  the  struggle  of 
Rip's  long-submerged  but  only  dormant  spirit  of  manli- 
ness, when  his  wife  turns  him  from  their  home,  in  night 
and  storm  and  abandoned  degradation.  Still  more 
vividly  is  it  shown  in  his  pathetic  bewilderment,  —  his 
touching  embodiment  of  the  anguish  of  lonely  age 
bowed  down  by  sorrow  and  doubt,  —  when  he  comes 
back  from  his  sleep  of  twenty  years.  His  disclosure  of 
himself  to  his  daughter  marks  the  climax  of  pathos,  and 
every  heart  is  melted  by  those  imploring  looks  of  mute 
suspense,  those  broken  accents  of  love  that  almost  fears 
an  utterance.  It  would  be  hard  to  say  which  portion 
of  Jefferson's  performance  is  the  more  admirable. 
Perhaps  the  perfection  of  his  acting  is  seen  in  the 
weird  and  beautiful  interview  with  the  ghosts.  This 
situation,  surely,  is  one  of  the  greatest  ever  devised  for 
the  stage  ;  and  the  actor  himself  created  it.  Midnight, 
on  the  highest  peak  of  the  Kaatskills,  dimly  lighted  by 
the  moon.  No  one  speaks  but  Rip.  The  ghosts 
cluster  around  him.  The  grim  but  stately  shade  of 
Henry  Hudson  proffers  a  cup  of  drink  to  the  mortal 
intruder,  already  dazed  by  his  supernatural  surround- 
ings. Poor  Rip,  almost  shuddering  in  the  awful  si- 
lence, yet  bold,  and  full  of  his  quaint  nature,  pledges 
the  ghosts,  in  their  own  liquor.     Then,  suddenly  the 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  203 

spell  is  broken  ;  shouts  of  goblin  laughter  resound  over 
the  echoing  mountain  ;  the  moon  is  lost  in  struggling 
clouds  ;  the  spectres  glide  away  and  slowly  vanish  ;  and 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  with  the  drowsy,  piteous  murmur, 
"  Don't  leave  me,  boys,"  falls  into  his  mystic  sleep. 

This  idle,  good-natured,  dram-drinking  Dutch  spend- 
thrift—  so  perfectly  reproduced,  yet  so  exalted  and  pu- 
rified by  ideal  treatment  —  is  not  certainly  an  heroic 
figure,  and  cannot  be  said  to  possess  an  exemplary  sig- 
nificance, either  in  himself  or  his  experience.  Yet  his 
temperament  has  that  fine  fibre  which  everybody  loves, 
and  everybody,  accordingly,  has  a  good  feeling  for  him, 
although  nobody  may  have  a  good  word  for  his  way  of 
life.  All  observers  know  this  order  of  man.  He  is  gen- 
erally as  poor  as  a  church  mouse.  He  never  did  a  bad 
action  in  all  his  life.  He  is  continually  cheering  the 
weak  and  lowly.  He  always  wears  a  smile  upon  his 
face,  —  the  reflex  of  his  gentle  heart.  Ambition  does 
not  trouble  him.  His  wants  are  few.  He  has  no  care, 
except  when,  now  and  then,  he  feels  that  he  may  have 
wasted  time  and  talents,  or  when  the  sorrow  of  others 
falls  darkly  on  his  heart.  This,  however,  is  rare  ;  for  at 
most  times  he  is  "bright  as  light  and  clear  as  wind." 
Nature  has  established  with  him  a  kind  of  kindred  that 
she  allows  with  only  a  chosen  few.  In  him  Shake- 
speare's rosy  ideal  is  suggested  :  "  The  singing  birds  are 
his  musicians,  the  flowers  fair  ladies,  and  his  ste;»  no 
more  than  a  delightful  measure  or  a  dance."  This  man- 
ner of  man  Jefferson's  Rip  Van  Winkle  embodies,  and 
that  is  the  secret  of  its  charm.  Nobody  would  dream 
of  setting  him  up  as  a  model;  but  everybody  is  glad 


204  THE   7 EPPERSONS. 

that  he  exists.  Most  persons  work  so  hard,  are  so  full 
of  care  and  trouble,  so  weighed  down  with  the  sense 
of  duty,  so  anxious  to  regulate  the  world  and  put  every- 
thing to  rights,  that  contact  with  a  nature  which  does 
not  care  for  the  stress  and  din  of  toil,  but  dwells  in  an 
atmosphere  of  sunshiny  idleness,  and  is  the  embodi- 
ment of  goodness,  innocence,  and  careless  mirth, 
brings  a  positive  relief.  This  is  the  feeling  that  Jeffer- 
son's acting  inspires.  The  halo  of  genius  is  all  around 
it.  Sincerity,  humor,  pathos,  vivid  imagination,  and  a 
gentleness  that  is  akin  with  wild  flowers  and  woodland 
brooks,  slumberous,  slow-drifting  summer-clouds,  and 
soft  music  heard  upon  the  waters,  in  star-lit  nights  of 
June  —  these  are  the  springs  of  the  actor's  art.  There 
are  a  hundred  beauties  of  method  in  it  which  satisfy 
the  judgment  and  fascinate  the  sense  of  symmetry ; 
but  underlying  these  beauties  there  is  a  magical  sweet- 
ness of  temperament  —  a  delicate  blending  of  humor, 
pathos,  gentleness,  quaintness,  and  dream-like  repose  — 
which  awakens  the  most  affectionate  sympathy.  This 
subtile  spirit  is  the  potent  charm  of  the  impersonation. 
All  possible  labor  ( and  Jefferson  sums  up  in  this  per- 
formance the  culture  acquired  in  many  years  of  pro- 
fessional toil)  could  not  supply  that  charm.  It  is  a 
celestial  gift.  It  is  the  divine  fire.  It  is  what  the 
philosophic  poet  Emerson,  with  fine  and  far-reaching 
significance,  calls 

"  The  untaught  strain 
That  sheds  beauty  on  the  rose." 

In  depicting  Rip  Van  Winkle  Jefferson  reaches  the 
perfection  of  the  actor's  art ;  which  is  to  delineate  a 


JEFFERSON   THE  FOURTH.  205 

distinctly  individual  character,  through  successive  stages 
of  growth,  till  the  story  of  a  life  is  completely  told.  If 
the  student  of  acting  would  feelingly  appreciate  the 
fineness  and  force  of  the  dramatic  art  that  is  displayed 
in  this  work,  let  him,  in  either  of  the  pivotal  passages, 
consider  the  complexity  and  depth  of  the  effect,  as 
contrasted  with  the  simplicity  of  the  means  that  are 
used  to  produce  it.  There  is  no  trickery  in  the  charm. 
The  sense  of  beauty  is  satisfied,  because  the  object  that 
it  apprehends  is  beautiful.  The  heart  is  deeply  and 
surely  touched,  for  the  simple  and  sufficient  reason 
that  the  character  and  experience  revealed  to  it  are 
lovely  and  pathetic.  For  Rip  Van  Winkle's  good- 
ness exists  as  an  oak  exists,  and  is  not  dependent 
on  principle,  precept,  or  resolution.  Howsoever  he 
may  drift  he  cannot  drift  away  from  human  affection. 
Weakness  was  never  punished  with  more  sorrowful 
misfortune  than  his.  Dear  to  us  for  what  he  is,  he 
becomes  dearer  still  for  what  he  suffers,  and  (in  the 
acting  of  Jefferson)  for  the  manner  in  which  he  suffers 
it.  That  manner,  arising  out  of  complete  identification 
with  the  part,  informed  by  intuitive  and  liberal  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  and  guided  by  an  unerring  in- 
stinct of  taste,  is  the  crown  of  Jefferson's  art.  It  is 
unrestrained  ;  it  is  graceful  ;  it  is  free  from  effort ;  it  is 
equal  to  every  situation  ;  and  it  shows,  with  the  pre- 
cision and  chin  acy  of  the  finest  miniature-painting, 
the  gradual,  natural  changes  of  the  character,  as  wrought 
by  the  pressure  of  experience.  Its  result  is  the  perfect 
embodiment  of  a  rare  type  of  human  nature  and  mysti- 
cal experience,  embellished  by  the  appliances  of  ro- 


206  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

rfiance  and  exalted  by  the  atmosphere  of  poetry ;  and 
no  person  of  imagination  and  sensibility  can  see  it 
without  being  charmed  by  its  humor,  thrilled  by  its 
manifold  suggestions  of  beauty,  and  made  more  and 
more  sensible  that  life  is  utterly  worthless,  howsoever 
brilliantly  its  ambitions  may  happen  to  be  rewarded, 
unless  it  is  hallowed  by  love  and  soothed  by  kindness. 

There  will  be,  as  there  have  been,  many  Rip  Van 
Winkles :  there  is  but  one  Jefferson.  For  him  it  was 
reserved  to  idealize  the  entire  subject ;  to  elevate  a 
prosaic  type  of  good-natured  indolence  into  an  ideal 
emblem  of  poetical  freedom  ;  to  construct  and  trans- 
late, in  the  world  of  fact,  the  Arcadian  vagabond  of  the 
world  of  dreams.  In  the  presence  of  his  wonderful 
embodiment  of  this  droll,  gentle,  drifting  human  crea- 
ture —  to  whom  trees  and  brooks  and  flowers  are  famil- 
iar companions,  to  whom  spirits  appear,  and  for  whom 
the  mysterious  voices  of  the  lonely  midnight  forest 
have  a  meaning  and  a  charm  —  the  observer  feels  that 
poetry  is  no  longer  restricted  to  canvas,  and  marble, 
and  rapt  reverie  over  the  printed  page,  but  walks  forth 
crystallized  in  a  human  form,  spangled  with  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  diamond  dews  of  morning,  mysterious  with 
hints  of  woodland  secrets,  lovely  with  the  simplicity 
and  joy  of  rustic  freedom,  and  fragrant  with  the  incense 
of  the  pines. 

The  world  does  not  love  Rip  Van  Winkle  because 
he  drinks  schnapps,  nor  because  he  is  unthrifty,  nor 
because  he  banters  his  wife,  nor  because  he  neglects 
his  duties  as  a  parent.  AH  these  are  faults,  and  he  is 
loved  in  spite  of  them.     Underneath  all  his  defects  the 


JEFFERSON   THE  FOURTH.  20"J 

human  nature  of  the  man  is  as  sound  and  bright  as 
the  finest  gold  ;  and  it  is  out  of  this  interior  beauty 
that  the  charm  of  Jefferson's  personation  arises.  The 
conduct  of  Rip  Van  Winkle  is  the  result  of  his  char- 
acter, and  not  of  his  drams.  At  the  sacrifice  of  some 
slight  comicality,  here  and  there,  the  element  of  intoxi- 
cation might  be  left  out  of  his  experience  altogether, 
and  he  would  still  act  in  the  same  way,  and  possess 
the  same  fascination.  Jefferson's  Rip,  of  course,  is 
meant,  and  not  Irving's.  The  latter  was  "  a  thirsty 
soul,"  accustomed  to  frequent  the  tavern  ;  and  thirsty 
souls  who  often  seek  taverns  neither  go  there  to  prac- 
tise total  abstinence,  nor  come  thence  with  poetical  at- 
tributes of  nature.  No  such  idea  of  Rip  Van  Winkle 
can  be  derived  from  Irving's  sketch  as  is  given  in  Jef- 
ferson's acting.  Irving  seems  to  have  written  the  sketch 
for  the  sake  of  the  ghostly  legend  it  embodies  ;  but  he 
made  no  attempt  to  elaborate  the  character  of  its  hero, 
or  to  present  it  as  a  poetic  one.  Jefferson  has  exalted 
the  conception.  In  his  embodiment  the  drink  is  merely 
an  expedient,  to  plunge  the  hero  into  domestic  strife  and 
open  the  way  for  his  ghostly  adventure  and  his  pathetic 
resuscitation.  The  machinery  may  be  clumsy  ;  but 
that  does  not  invalidate  either  the  beauty  of  the  charac- 
ter or  the  supernatural  thrill  and  mortal  anguish  of  the 
experience.  In  these  al fides  the  soul  of  this  great 
work,  which,  while  it  captivates  the  heart,  also  enthralls 
the  imagination,  —  taking  us  away  from  the  region  of 
the  commonplace,  away  also  from  the  region  of  the 
passions,  lifting  us  above  the  storms  of  life,  its  sorrows, 
its  losses,  and   its  fret,  till  we   rest  at  last  on   Nature's 


208  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

bosom,  children  once  more,  and  once  more  happy. 
No  words  can  more  than  hint  at  this  inherent  and 
indefinable  magic.  Its  results  disclose  its  presence  ; 
for,  as  long  ago  was  beautifully  said  by  the  poet  Alex- 
ander Smith  :  — 

"  Love  gives  itself;  and,  if  not  given, 
No  genius,  beauty,  state,  or  wit, 
No  gold  of  earth,  no  gem  of  heaven, 
Is  rich  enough  to  purchase  it." 

Washington  Irving  (i  783-1859)  did  not  live  to  be 
a  witness  of  the  great  success  of  Jefferson,  in  the 
character — suggested  and  made  possible  by  himself — 
of  Rip  Va?i  Winkle.  But  Irving  saw  Jefferson  upon  the 
stage,  and  remembered  his  grandfather,  and  appre- 
ciated and  admired  the  acting  of  both.  The  following 
mention  of  the  Jeffersons  occurs  in  the  Journal  of  the 
last  days  of  Washington  Irving,  kept  by  his  nephew, 
Pierre  M.  Irving,  and  published  in  1862  :  — 

"September  Tptli,  1858. —  Mr.  Irving  came  in  town,  to  remain 
a  few  days.  In  the  evening  went  to  Laura  Keene's  Theatre,  to 
see  young  Jefferson  as  Goldfinch,  in  Holcroft's  comedy  of  '  The 
Road  to  Ruin.'  Thought  Jefferson,  the  father,  one  of  the 
best  actors  he  had  ever  seen  ;  and  the  son  reminded  him,  in 
look,  gesture,  size,  and  make,  of  the  father.  Had  never  seen 
the  father  in  Goldfinch,  but  was  delighted  with  the  son."  —  Life 
and  Letters  of  Washington  Irving.     Vol.  IV.,  p.  253. 

The  grandfather,  and  not  the  father,  evidently,  was 
meant,  in  this  reference.  Irving  had  seen  Jefferson 
the  Second,  in  the  old  days  of  "  Salmagundi."  It  is 
doubtful  whether  he  ever  saw  Jefferson  the  Third,  the 
father  of  our  comedian. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  209 

Jefferson's  persistent  adherence  to  the  character  of 
Rip  Van  Winkle  has  often,  and  naturally,  been  made 
the  subject  of  inquiry  and  remark.  The  late  Charles 
Mathews  once  said  to  him:  "Jefferson,  I'm  glad  to 
see  you  making  your  fortune,  but  I  hate  to  see  you 
doing  it  with  one  part  and  a  carpet-bag."  "  It  is  cer- 
tainly better,"  answered  the  comedian,  "  to  play  one 
part  and  make  it  various,  than  to  play  a  hundred  parts 
and  make  them  all  alike." 

A  singular  and  comic  incident  attended  one  of  Jef- 
ferson's performances  of  Rip  Van  Winkle,  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina.  He  had  reached  the  first  scene 
of  the  third  act,  and  the  venerable  Rip,  just  awakened 
from  his  long  sleep,  was  slowly  and  painfully  raising 
himself  from  the  earth.  The  whole  house  was  hushed, 
in  anxious  and  pitying  suspense.  At  this  moment  the 
heavy,  floundering  tread  of  a  drunken  man  was  heard 
in  the  gallery.  He  descended  in  the  centre  aisle, 
reached  the  front  row,  and  gazed  upon  the  stage. 
Then,  suddenly,  was  heard  his  voice,  —  distinctly  audi- 
ble throughout  the  theatre,  —  the  voice  of  interested 
curiosity,  tipsy  gravity,  and  a  good-natured  thirst  for 
knowledge  :  "  What  the  h —  's  that  old  idiot  tryin' 
to  do?" 

JEFFERSON   AS   BOB   ACRES. 

Philadelphia,  September  15th,  1S80.* 

Jefferson  has  at  last  complied  with  the  desire,  generally  felt 
and   frequently  expressed  within  the  last   two  or  three  years, 

*  This  letter  was  written  in  the  "  New  York  Tribune,"  by  the  author 
of  this  biography,  and  it  is  now  reprinted,  in  a  condensed  form,  from 
that  journal.  —  W.  W. 


2IO  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

that  he  should  appear  in  some  other  part  than  Rip  Van  Winkle. 
He  has  not  tired  of  his  old  character,  any  more  than  the  public 
has  tired  of  it ;  but  he  has  felt  the  mental  need  of  a  change, 
and  he  has  recognized  the  claims  of  the  new  generation  of 
play-goers  upon  that  versatility  of  art  and  those  resources  of 
faculty  and  humor  which  gave  enjoyment  to  theatrical  audi- 
ences of  an  earlier  time,  and  which  laid  the  basis  of  his  pro- 
fessional renown.  He  has  not  been  unwilling,  neither,  —  it  is 
probable,  —  to  correct  a  mistaken  contemporary  impression, 
current  to  some  extent,  that  he  is  only  a  one-part  actor.  In 
former  days,  and  long  before  he  took  up  Rip  Van  Winkle, 
Jefferson  acted  many  parts  ;  and  very  early  in  his  career  he 
was  recognized,  by  the  dramatic  profession  and  by  the  more 
discerning  part  of  the  public,  as  an  actor  of  great  versatility. 
His  personations  of  Asa  Trenchard,  Caleb  Plummer,  Dr.  Pan- 
gloss,  Dr.  Ollapod,  Diggory,  Salem  Scudder,  Mr.  Golightly,  Mr. 
Lullaby..  Newman  Noggs,  Goldfinch,  Bob  Brierly,  the  burlesque 
Mazeppa,  and  Tobias  Shortcut  (and  these  are  but  a  few  of  the 
many  in  which  he  was  excellent  and  distinguished,  long  ago) 
still  linger  in  the  memory  of  old  playgoers,  and  are  remembered 
only  to  be  admired  and  extolled.  But  since,  for  the  last  four- 
teen years  —  the  period  succeeding  his  return  from  England,  in 
1866 — he  has  seldom  acted  any  thing  but  Rip  Van  Winkle,  the 
public  conception  of  him  as  a  general  actor  has  grown  dim,  or 
has  altogether  faded  away.  In  taking  the  step  which  he  has 
now  taken,  by  reviving,  as  a  specialty,  the  comedy  of  "  The 
Rivals,"  and  appearing  as  Bob  Acres  (in  which  part,  many 
years  ago,  he  made  one  of  his  earliest  and  best  successes), 
he  affords  refreshment  to  his  own  mind ;  he  decreases  the 
possibility  of  his  making  Rip  Van  Winkle  hackneyed  and  te- 
dious ;  he  satisfies  a  natural  craving  for  novelty  on  the  part 
of  his  admirers ;  he  revives,  or  awakens,  a  just  sense  of  the 
breadth  of  his  scope  as  a  comedian  ;  and,  keeping  abreast  of 
the  progress  of  modern  taste,  he  gives  his  public  a  new  pleasure, 
a  new  lesson  in  dramatic  art,  and  a  new  subject  for  study  and 
thought.  It  was  a  wise  deed  to  do  ;  and  it  will  be  productive 
of  wholesome  results,  in  its  influence  upon  theatrical  interests 
throughout  the  country. 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  211 

Those  persons  who  are  acquainted  with  the  professional 
career  of  Jefferson  are  aware  that  it  has  been  marked,  all 
along  its  course,  by  extraordinary  wisdom.  He  has  made  few 
mistakes, —  never  one  in  an  important  juncture  of  affairs.  He 
came  to  the  capital  at  the  right  time,  and  in  the  right  way. 
He  very  early  applied  to  the  old  comedies  the  right,  because 
the  pure  and  poetic,  method  of  treatment.  He  could  look  far 
ahead  for  the  results  of  his  labor  and  devotion,  and  he  made 
fidelity  to  the  highest  ideal  of  art  the  first  object  of  his  life. 
He  understood  perfectly  well  the  nature  of  the  structure  that 
he  was  rearing,  and  he  never  trusted  anything  to  chance.  It 
was  he  who  caused  the  production  of  "  Our  American  Cousin," 
at  Laura  Keene's  Theatre  (in  New  York,  October  18th,  i 
and  so  made  one  of  the  greatest  dramatic  successes  of  which 
there  is  any  record.  He  had  the  foresight  to  select,  while  yet 
a  young  man,  the  character  through  which  his  powers  were 
destined  to  find  their  amplest  expression,  —  the  character  of 
Rip  Van  Winkle;  and  for  that  he  shaped  out  an  ideal  and  a 
treatment  so  original,  high,  poetic,  fresh,  and  lovely,  so  utterly 
unlike  and  so  far  above  the  conception  of  Washington  Irving's 
sketch  and  the  embodiment  of  previous  actors  —  whether  Hack- 
ett  or  Yates  or  Burke  or  anybody  else  —  that  he  may  be  said  to 
have  created  the  part.  He  left  America,  and  visited  Australia, 
at  a  favorable  period  for  such  an  expedition,  and  with  a  practical 
view  to  subsequent  success  upon  the  London  stage.  lie  - 
ciously  resorted  to  Mr.  I  mcicault,  in  London,  when  he 

deemed  it  essential  that  a  new  play  should  be  built  upon  the 
basis  of  the  old  one,  and  he  furnished  to  thai  practical  drama- 
tist a  general  outline  of  the  piece,  the  drift  of  the  central  charac- 
ter, and  the  great  situation  in  the  second  act  of  "  Rip  Van 
Winkle"  as  it  now  stands,  —  a  dramatic  idea  which  of  itself 
would  suffice  to  prove  him  a  man  of  genius.  lie  retu 
home  opportunely,  after  his  extraordinary  triumphs  in  Great 
Britain;  and  the  fame  and  fortune  he  has  since  acquired,  the 
affection  with  which  his  memory  is  cherished,  and  the  joyous 
admiration  with  which  his  name  is  spoken  throughout  this 
country  are  abundant  and  sufficient  evidence  that  his  conduct 


212 


THE  JEFFERSONS. 


of  the  artist-life,  since  then,  has  been  no  less  prudent  and  right 
than  kindly,  modest,  gentle,  and  sincere.  It  is  not  caprice  which 
shapes  such  a  career  as  that  of  Jefferson,  nor  is  it  accident  that 
has  crowned  it  with  the  laurels  of  honor. 

The  same  sagacity  that  has  guided  the  comedian  hitherto  is 
shown  in  the  choice  he  has  now  made  of  a-  piece  and  a  charac- 
ter to  contrast  with  Rip  1  'an  Winkle.  Of  all  the  old  comedies, 
"  The  Rivals  "  is  obviously  the  best  that  this  actor  could  have 
selected,  with  a  view  —  most  essential  to  be  taken  !  —  of  mak- 
ing his  particular  part  in  the  performance  the  apex  of  the  en- 
tertainment. The  piece  is  one  that  has  not  become  antiquated 
in  time.  Its  picture  of  life  and  manners  is  as  modern  and  as 
vital  as  it  is  clear,  richly-colored,  humorous,  and  brilliant. 
The  spirit  of  it,  moreover,  is  human,  kindly,  and  pure.  There 
is  no  taint  of  indelicacy  in  the  plot,  —  no  streak  of  serious  and 
painful  licentiousness,  such  as  smirches  the  mirror  of  its  great 
companion  piece,  "The  School  for  Scandal,"  —  and  in  the  style 
there  is  nothing  of  the  superabundance  of  brittle  wit  which 
imparts  to  the  most  of  Sheridan's  writings  such  a  tiresome 
glitter  of  artifice.  The  play  is  fresh,  genial,  human,  simple 
and  droll  ;  it  has  interest  of  story,  a  breezy  movement,  and 
substantial,  well-contrasted  characters  ;  and  its  theme,  inci- 
dents, and  atmosphere  are  precisely  suited  to  Jefferson's  qual- 
ity of  humor  and  to  his  nimble  and  subtile  artistic  method. 
He  thus  obtains  a  means  of  expression  by  which  he  can  seize 
and  hold  the  kindly  sympathy  of  the  spectator  —  unconsciously, 
and  therefore  the  more  sweetly  given  —  all  the  while  that  he 
is  scattering  over  him  the  flowers  of  mirth,  and  waking  in  his 
heart  the  echoes  of  happy  laughter.  It  would  be  hard  to  find 
in  English  literature  another  comedy,  equally  sparkling  with 
life,  wholesome  in  spirit,  delightful  in  color,  and  merry  and 
gentle  in  influence,  in  which  a  single,  and  that  a  comic,  char- 
acter —  one  of  a  group,  yet  drawn  and  kept  in  harmony 
with  its  surroundings  —  could  thus  be  made  tributary  to  the 
idiosyncrasies  of  an  actor,  and  thus  elevated  into  shining 
prominence,  without  injury  to  its  own  integrity,  and  without 
violence  to  the  symmetry  of    the   play.     After   seeing  "The 


/ 


JEFFERSON   THE  FOURTH.  213 

Rivals,"  as  Jefferson  and  his  company  present  it,  the  spec- 
tator retires  with  a  great  kindness  for  the  old  piece,  and  with 
the  conviction  that,  in  Jefferson's  performance  of  Bob  Acres, 
he  has  seen  a  slight  character  made  fascinating  by  drollery  of 
spirit,  sincerity  of  feeling,  amplitude  of  treatment,  and  grace  of 
expression. 

When  "The  Rivals"  was  first  produced  [1775],  it  had  to  be 
cut,  in  a  ruthless  manner,  before  it  could  be  made  to  succeed. 
The  author,  then  but  twenty-three  years  old,  had  written  it  with 
exuberant  spirits,  and  it  contained  substance  enough  for  two 
plays  rather  than  one.  Jefferson  has  not  hesitated  to  cut  it 
still  further,  and  slightly  to  change  its  sequence  of  action,  and 
here  and  there,  in  the  character  of  Bob  Acres,  to  fill  in  traits 
that  the  author  has  only  outlined,  to  add  new  business,  —  al- 
ways, however,  in  harmony  with  the  original  conception,  —  and 
to  give,  by  occasional  new  lines,  an  added  emphasis  and  pro- 
longation to  the  humorous  strokes  of  Sheridan.  The  bright- 
ness of  the  effect  denotes  a  decided  improvement.  The  comedy 
is  given  in  three  acts.  The  first  curtain  falls  upon  the  exit  of 
Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  after  his  choleric  scene  with  his  son. 
The  second  falls  upon  the  exit  of  Acres,  at  the  words,  "  Tell 
him  1  kill  a  man  a  week."  And  the  third  falls  upon  the  close 
of  the  piece,  with  a  tag  that  Jefferson  has  added.  The  char- 
acter of  Julia  is  cut  out,  and  that  of  Falkland  is  considera- 
bly  reduced.  This  is  a  relief,  since  these  parts  are  only  pleasant 
when  acted  by  players  of  the  first  class,  such  as  can  no  longer 
now  he  got  to  undertake  them.  The  loose  lines,  as  well  as 
what  Moore  called  the  "false  finery  and  second-rate  orna- 
ment," have  been  scored  away.  Two  of  the  scenes  of  Acres 
have  been  blended  into  one,  so  that  the  vain  and  timorous 
squire's  truculence,  when  writing  the  challenge,  may  be  made 
the  more  comical  by  immediate  contrast  with  his  dismay  and 
gradually  growing  cowardice,  as  he  begins  to  realize  its  possible 
con  1  -.     In   other   respects  there  is  no  change.      Ten 

actors  carry  the  piece,  and  it  movi  with  smooth  celerity.  The 
cast  comprises  Jefferson  as  Bob  Acres,  Frederick  Robinson  as 
Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  Mrs.  John  Drew  as  Mrs.  Malaprop,  Mr. 


214  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

Maurice  Barrymore  as  Captain  Absolute,  Mr.  Charles  Waverley 
as  Sir  Lucius  O' Trigger,  Miss  Rosa  Rancl  as  Lydia  Languish, 
Miss  Adine  Stephens  as  Lucy,  Mr.  H.  F.  Taylor  as  Falkland, 
Mr.  Thomas  Jefferson  (second  son  of  the  comedian)  as  Fag, 
and  Mr.  J.  Galloway  as  David.  The  parts  are  beautifully 
dressed,  although  with  some  intentional  inaccuracy  as  to  pow- 
dered hair  ;  and,  as  the  rehearsals  have  been  thorough,  the 
representation  is  marked  by  clearness  of  outline,  boldness  of 
color,  and  harmony  of  effect. 

To  the  present  public  Jefferson  as  Bob  Acres  is  an  abso- 
lute novelty.  He  was,  however,  as  has  been  said,  long  ago 
distinguished  in  it ;  and  he  has  played'  this  part,  and  also 
Pangloss,  and  OUapod,  season  after  season —  a  few  times  each  — 
at  Ford's  Theatre,  in  Baltimore.  In  1S71,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Holland  Benefit,  in  New  York,  he  charmed  an  immense 
audience  with  his  representation  of  Mr.  Golightly ;  and  this 
exquisite  work  he  gave,  a  few  years  later  (1877),  m  London, 
on  the  occasion  of  a  benefit  to  the  impoverished  and  dying 
veteran,  Henry  Compton,  when  his  success  was  so  great  that 
John  S.  Clarke  immediately  proposed  to  him  a  season  of  farce 
at  the  Haymarket, —  a  season  devoted  to  Mr.  Golightly  and 
Hugh  De  Brass,  —  in  which,  while  the  treasury  neither  largely 
gained  nor  lost  at  all,  the  connoisseurs  of  the  British  capital 
enjoyed  a  kind  of  acting  which  they  conceded  to  be  equal  with 
the  best  upon  the  Parisian  comedy  stage.  To  those,  accord- 
ingly, who  keep  the  track  of  such  affairs  it  is  not  unknown  that 
Jefferson's  extraordinary  felicity  in  light  parts,  whether  of  com- 
edy, burlesque,  or  farce,  resides  in  his  application  to  them  of 
an  intense  earnestness  of  spirit  and  a  poetic  treatment,  —  by 
which  is  meant  a  treatment  that  interprets,  illustrates,  and  ele- 
vates the  character.  In  this  way  he  has  now  embodied  Bob 
Acres  ;  and  as  the  most  scrupulous  attention  has  been  given  to 
every  detail  —  even  the  slightest — in  the  revival  of  the  com- 
edy, his  impersonation  of  that  amusing  character  can  now  be 
seen  in  greater  fulness  and  freedom,  and  with  the  advantage  of 
better  surroundings,  than  ever  before. 

Jefferson   appears  in  three  scenes  :    the  first,  that  of  the 


JEFFEKSON  THE  FOURTH.  21  5 

call  which  is  made  by  Acres  at  the  lodging  of  Captain  Absolute, 
where  he  meets  Falkland;  the  second,  that  of  his  reception  of 
Sir  Lucius  0' Trigger,  at  his  own  chambers,  when  he  writes  the 
challenge  to  the  mythical  Beverley,  is  frightened  by  the  terrors 
of  his  bumpkin  servant,  David,  and,  at  last,  with  rueful  reluc- 
tance, entrusts  the  warlike  missive  to  Captain  Absolute ;  and' 
the  third,  that  of  the  frustrated  meeting  in  King's  Mead  Mead- 
ows, when,  in  the  extremity  of  fear,  his  "  valor  oozes  out  at 
the  tips  of  his  fingers,"  and  the  snarl  that  young  Absolute  has 
woven  is  finally  and  happily  disentangled.  The  variety  that 
he  evokes  from  these  scenes  is  little  less  than  wonderful.  At 
first  it  seems  as  if  he  had  overladen  the  character  with  mean- 
ing, and  lifted  it  too  far.  But,  when  this  creation  is  studied,  it 
is  immediately  seen  that  the  actor  has  only  taken  the  justifiable 
and  admirable  license  of  deepening  the  lines  and  tints  of  the 
author,  and  of  endearing  the  character  by  infusing  into  it  an 
amiable  and  lovable  personality.  That  this  was  not  clearly  in- 
tended by  Sheridan  would  not  invalidate  its  propriety.  The 
part  admits  of  it,  and  is  better  for  it ;  and  this  certainly  would 
have  been  intended  had  it  been  thought  of,  —  for  it  makes  the 
play  doubly  interesting  and  potential.  That  Acres  becomes  a 
striking  figure  in  the  group,  and  a  vigorous  motive  in  the  ac- 
tion, is  only  because  he  is  thus  splendidly  vitalized.  Were  the 
other  parts  electrified  by  an  equal  genius  in  the  performance 
of  them  it  would  instantly  be  seen  that  he  has  no  undue  prom- 
inence. 

Jefferson  has  considered  that  a  country  squire  need  not  nec- 
essarily reek  of  the  ale-house  and  the  stables;  that  Acres  is 
neither  the  noisy  and  vulgar  Tony  Lumpkin,  nor  the  "horsey" 
Gold/inch  :  that  there  is,  in  a  certain  way,  a  little  touch  of  the 
Wildrake'm  his  composition  ;  that  he  is  not  less  kindly  because 
vain  and  empty-headed  ;  that  he  has  tender  ties  of  home,  and 
a  background  of  innocent,  domestic  life;  that  his  head  is  com- 
ly  turned  by  contact  w  iib  town  fashions;  that  there  may 
be  a  kind  of  artlessness  in  his  ridiculous  assumption  of  rakish 
airs;  that  there  is  somi  thing  a  little  pitiable  in  his  braggado- 
cio ;  that  he  is  a  good  fellow,  at  heart ;  and  that  his  sufferings 


2l6  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

in  the  predicament  of  the  duel  are  genuine,  intense,  and  quite 
as  doleful  as  they  are  comic.  All  this  appears  in  the  persona- 
tion. You  are  struck  at  once  by  the  elegance  of  the  figure,  the 
grace  of  movement,  the  winning  appearance  and  temperament ; 
and  Bob  Aa-cs  gets  your  friendship,  and  is  a  welcome  pres- 
ence, laugh  at  him  as  you  may.  Jefferson  has  introduced 
a  comic  blunder  with  which  to  take  him  out  of  the  first  scene 
with  Absolute,  and  also  some  characteristic  comic  business  for 
him,  before  a  mirror,  when  Sir  Lucius,  coming  upon  him  una- 
wares, finds  him  practising  bows  and  studying  deportment. 
He  does  not  seem  contemptible  in  these  situations  ;  he  only 
seems,  as  he  ought  to  seem,  absurdlycomical.  He  communi- 
cates to  every  spectator  his  joy  in  the  success  of  his  curl-papers  ; 
and  no  one,  even  amidst  uncontrollable  laughter,  thinks  of  his 
penning  of  his  challenge  as  otherwise  than  a  proceeding  of 
the  most  serious  importance.  He  is  made  a  lovable  human 
being,  with  an  experience  of  action  and  suffering,  and  our  sym- 
pathies with  him,  on  his  battle-field,  would  be  really  painful 
but  that  we  are  in  the  secret,  and  know  it  will  turn  out  well. 
The  interior  spirit  of  Jefferson's  impersonation,  then,  is  soft 
humanity  and  sweet  good  nature;  and  the  traits  that  he  has 
especially  emphasized  are  ludicrous  vanity  and  comic  trepi- 
dation. He  never  leaves  a  moment  unfilled  with  action,  when 
he  is  on  the  scene,  and  all  his  by-play  is  made  tributary  to  the 
expression  of  these  traits.  One  of  his  fresh  and  deft  touches 
is  the  trifling  with  Captain  A bsolutes  gold-laced  hat,  and —  obvi- 
ously to  the  eye  —  considering  whether  it  would  be  becoming 
to  himself.  The  acting  is  full  of  these  bits  of  felicitous  em- 
broidery. Nothing  could  possibly  be  more  humorous  or  more 
full  of  nature  than  the  mixture  of  assurance,  uneasy  levity,  and 
dubious  apprehension,  at  the  moment  when  the  challenge  has 
at  last  and  irrevocably  found  its  way  into  Captain  Absolute's 
pocket.  The  rueful  face,  then,  is  a  study  for  a  painter,  and 
onlv  a  portrait  could  do  it  justice.  The  mirth  of  the  duel  scene 
it  is  impossible  to  convey.  It  must  be  supreme  art  indeed 
which  can  arouse,  at  the  same  instant,  as  this  does,  an  almost 
tender  solicitude  and  an  inextinguishable  laughter.     The  little 


JEFFERSON  THE  FOURTH.  217 

introductions  of  a  word  or  two  here  and  there  in  the  text,  made 
at  this  point  by  the  comedian,  are  delightfully  happy.  To  make 
Acres  say  that  he  doesn't  care  "how  little  the  risk  is"  was  an 
inspiration;  and  his  sudden  and  joyous  greeting,  "How  are 
you,  Falkland?"  —  with  the  relief  that  it  implies,  and  the  mo- 
mentary return  of  theairy  swagger,  —  is  a  stroke  of  genius. 
The  performance,  altogether,  is  as  exquisite  a  piece  of  comedy 
as  ever  has  been  seen,  in  our  time.  You  do  not  think,  till  you 
look  back  upon  it,  how  fine  it  is, — so  easy  is  its  manner,  and 
so  perfectly  does  it  sustain  the  illusion  of  real  life. 

Mrs.  Drew  has  treated  in  the  same  earnest  spirit  the  charac- 
ter of  Mrs.  Malaprop,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  overstate  the 
merit  of  her  performance.  It  is  as  fine  as  anything  of  the  kind 
can  possibly  be.  The  dressing  is  appropriately  rich,  and  in 
suitable  taste.  The  manner  is  decorous  and  stately.  The  per- 
sonality is  decidedly  formidable.  The  deportment  is  elaborate 
and  overwhelming,  as  it  should  be.  The  delivery  of  the  text 
is  beautiful  in  its  accuracy  and  finish,  and  in  its  unconscious 
grace.  The  word  is  always  matched  by  the  right  mood,  and 
not  a  single  blunder,  in  what  this  eccentric  character  calls  her 
"  orthodoxy,"  is  made  in  any  spirit  but  that  of  fervent  con- 
viction. It  is  worth  the  journey  to  this  place  merely  to  hear 
her  say  "lie  has  enveloped  the  plot  to  me,  and  he  will  give 
you  the  perpendiculars."  The  bit  of  illustrative  stage  busii 
with  the  letter  —  giving  \.o  Absolute, by  mistake,  one  of  the  love- 
letters  of  O'  /  instead  of  the  intercepted  epistle  of  Bever- 
ley—  was  done  with  a  bridling  simper  and  an  antique  blush 
that  were  irresistible.  The  pervasive  excellence  of  the  work 
is  its  intense  reality,  and  this  redeems  the  extravagance  of  the 
character  and  the  farcical  quality  of  its  text.  For  the  first  time 
it  seemed  as  if  Mrs.  Malaprop  might  truly  exist.  The  part  has 
before  now  been  greatly  acted;  but  never  till  now,  in  our  time, 
has  it  seemed  to  be  actually  li 

The  other  impersonations  are  not  level  with  those  of  Mr. 
J-  Mi  on  and  Mrs.  Drew  ;  but  Mr.  Frederick  Robinson  will  be 
remarkably  line  in  Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  when  he  has  gained 
in  it  somewhat  m  he  mellowness  of  age.    His  cholcr  and 


2l8  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

his  humor  are  capital,  and  his  charming  management  of  the 
dubious,  pausing  moments  of  suspicion,  in  Captain  Absolute's 
hoodwinking  scene  with  Sir  Anthony,  gave  it  glowing  color  and 
captivating  warmth  of  humor.  Mr.  Tom  Jefferson  was  a  gay 
and  effective  figure,  as  Fag,  and  he  made  his  satirical  exit  with 
such  skill  and  effect  as  promise  a  good  comedian.  The  actors 
work  together  with  fine  zeal  and  in  harmony  with  a  clear,  dom- 
inant purpose  ;  and  this  presentment  of  "  The  Rivals  "  cannot 
fail,  while  imparting  pleasure  as  it  passes,  to  teach  the  salutary 
lesson  of  what  thoroughness  and  sincerity  can  accomplish  in 
the  ministry  of  art.  Never  to  slight  anything  we  do,  but  to  go 
to  the  depth  and  height  of  the  subject,  and  bring  out  all  its 
meaning  and  all  its  beauty, —  that  is  the  lesson  of  this  splendid 
success  with  one  of  the  everyday  plays  of  our  theatre.  The 
wild  flower  that  grows  by  the  wayside,  if  you  but  nurture  it 
aright,  will  reward  your  care,  a  hundred  fold,  in  loveliness  and 
bloom. 

Note.  —  Jefferson  produced  "  The  Rivals  "  and  personated  Acres, 
at  the  Union  Square  Theatre,  New  York,  on  September  12th,  1881. 
This  was  his  first  presentation  of  the  subject,  in  that  capital,  since  the 
Philadelphia  revival.     The  cast  of  characters  was  the  following  :  — 

Acres Mr.  Jefferson. 

Sir  Anthony  Absolute Frederick  Robinson. 

Captain  Absolute Mark  Pendleton. 

Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger Charles  Waverley. 

Falkland Henry  F.  Taylor. 

Fag Thomas  Jefferson. 

David James  Galloway. 

Mrs.  Malaprop Mrs.  John  Drew. 

Lydia  Languish Miss  Rose  Wood. 

Lucy Miss  Eugenia  Paul. 


CONCLUSION. 


The  development  of  the  character  of  Jefferson  the 
First  seems  to  have  proceeded  along  a  conventional 
line.  He  had,  indeed,  the  boldness  to  adopt  the  stage, 
against  which  in  that  period,  and  for  many  years  after- 
wards, the  respectable  British  parent  is  found  protest- 
ing with  severity  and  contempt.  But  when  he  did  this 
he  was  an  adventurous  lad,  with  no  position  to  lose, 
and  the  avocation  of  the  actor  no  doubt  consorted  as 
well  with  his  necessities  as  with  his  humor  and  talents. 
It  does  not  appear  that  there  was  either  moral  courage 
or  mental  prescience  in  the  choice.  He  was  a  bold, 
high-spirited  youth.  He  was  fascinated  by  the  play- 
house, and  he  drifted  into  acting  as  a  source  of  pleasure 
and  a  means  of  advancement.  'When  thus  embarked 
he  soon  sobered  into  the  practical  English  view  of 
duty,  and  thereafter  ambled  calmly  on  in  the  beaten 
track.  Through  what  is  known  of  his  intellectual  life 
the  inquirer  discerns  no  impulse  of  positive  originality, 
no  exercise  of  creative  power.  His  style  as  an  actor 
was  based  on  that  of  Garrick,  and  probably  he  could 
not  have  had  a  better  model  ;  but  he  himself  was  less 
a  model  than  a  shadow.  He  took  the  parts  as  they 
came,  and  he  applied  to  their  illustration  dramatic 
instincts  of  a  fine  quality  and  dramatic  faculties  of  a 


220  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

high  character.  But  he  struck  out  no  individual  path. 
He  resembled  Garrick  as  Davenport  resembled  Mac- 
ready,  or  as  Setchell  resembled  Burton  :  he  was  of  the 
Garrick  school,  and  almost  as  good  as  its  founder. 
Hi.s  influence  on  the  stage  was  not  the  influence  of  an 
electrical  genius ;  he  did  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfil,  the  traditions  which  he  found.  That  he  followed 
the  lead  of  Garrick,  and  not  of  Quin,  was  significant 
rather  of  temperament  than  of  deliberate  choice  :  bril- 
liancy allured  him  more  than  scholarship  ;  but,  though 
he  had  been  attracted  to  the  school  of  Quin  rather 
than  to  that  of  Garrick,  he  still  would  have  remained  a 
disciple.  His  services  to  the  stage,  accordingly,  were 
those  of  an  able  and  generous  man,  working  by  con- 
ventional methods  in  a  traditional  groove.  He  sus- 
tained at  a  high  level  the  dignity  of  his  profession,  and 
was  the  more  scrupulously  careful  of  the  integrity  of 
the  theatre  because  sensitive  to  the  reproach  under 
which  it  labored.  While  he  did  not  presume  to  re- 
ject Archer,  Careless,  Woodall,  Belmour,  Scandal,  and 
kindred  shining  scamps  of  the  old  English  comedy, 
he  evidently  was  the  kind  of  man  who  must  have 
acted  them,  not  out  of  sympathy  with  vice,  not  with 
even  the  faintest  notion  of  immoral  intent,  but  be- 
cause experience  had  shown  them  to  be  useful,  and 
because  they  were  in  possession  of  the  stage.  He 
played  them  as  he  played  everything  else,  —  as  he 
played  Jacques  and  Horatio  and  Orsiuo,  and  as,  had 
he  lived  in  our  day,  he  would  have  played  with 
equal  impartiality  Master  Walter  and  Joseph  Surface, 
Ludovico  and  Adrastus,  Alfred  Evelyn  and   Captain 


CONCLUSION.  221 

Bland.  He  was  a  thorough  actor ;  he  helped  to  build 
up  the  British  stage  :  he  held,  to  the  end  of  a  long  life, 
the  sincere  esteem  of  the  public ;  and  he  left  to  history 
and  his  descendants  an  interesting  and  honorable 
name. 

Jefferson  the  Second  materially  differed  from  his 
father,  not  in  worth  or  honor,  but  in  important  per- 
sonal attributes  and  in  the  general  character  of  his  life. 
He  was  less  sturdy,  less  bluff,  less  genial  and  compan- 
ionable, less  a  man  of  the  world,  and  more  a  studious 
artist.  His  temperament  was  more  delicate,  his  nature 
more  reticent,  his  mind  more  ambitious,  his  faculties 
more  nimble  and  more  brilliant ;  and  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  life  seems  to  have  been  carefully  planned  and 
rigidly  governed.  He  saw  at  an  early  age  both  the 
direction  of  his  capacities  and  the  goal  of  his  desires  ; 
and  then  after,  in  a  spirit  of  simple,  profound,  and  pure 
self-devotion,  he  moved  forward  to  the  attainment  of 
his  high  and  honorable  ends.  He  was  essentially  a 
virtuous  person,  and  acted  always  from  the  monitions 
of  principle,  never  from  the  promptings  of  expediency 
or  the  fickle  whims  of  social  custom.  His  considera- 
tion for  others  was  an  exact  regard  for  their  rights  and 
a  tender  sympathy  with  their  sufferings.  He  was 
utterly  unselfish,  devoid  of  conceit  and  affectation,  and 
he  loved  the  dramatic  art  far  more  than  he  loved  him- 
self. Mis  wish  was  to  live  the  life  of  a  good  man  and 
to  win  the  success  of  a  great  comedian,  and  this  wish 
was  nobly  accomplished.  For  business  enterprise  he 
had  neither  taste  nor  talent,  and  his  mental  constitution 
was    such   as   required    that  personal   aggrandizement 


222  THE   JEFFERSONS. 

should  be  the  consequence  of  personal  desert  and 
worthy  achievement.  His  ambition  was  to  grasp  suc- 
cess itself,  and  not  to  grasp  merely  its  results,  and  he 
would  have  been  made  thoroughly  miserable  by  honors 
and  wealth  that  he  had  not  merited.  This  fine  nature, 
flowing  into  all  his  works  and  ways,  inspired  his  acting 
with  all  manner  of  lovely  and  winning  attributes,  — 
those  impalpable  and  nameless  qualities  which  so  far 
transcend  both  words  and  actions,  in  the  expression  of 
the  human  soul.  His  deficiency,  if  such  it  may  be 
called,  was  —  as  is  natural  and  usual  in  a  comedian 
—  a  deficiency  in  the  passions.  No  deadly  conflict 
could  ever  have  raged  upon  the  theatre  of  that  se- 
rene spirit ;  no  pall  of  tempest  could  ever  have  low- 
ered over  its  pure  and  pellucid  depths.  He  felt  no 
wounds  but  those  that  strike  the  heart.  His  private 
life  was  lived  in  the  affections ;  his  public  life,  in  that 
realm  of  dramatic  art  which  requires,  exclusively,  ob- 
servation mingled  with  invention,  eccentricity  tempered 
by  fancy,  and  humor  touched  with  tenderness.  As  an 
actor  his  originality  appears  to  have  consisted  in  his 
extraordinary  thoroughness  and  felicity  of  treatment. 
His  genius  did  not  dazzle  ;  but  it  always  delighted  and 
satisfied.  His  contemporaries  universally  commended 
him  as  a  natural  actor.  His  artifice,  accordingly,  must 
have  been  perfect,  and  must  have  been  employed  with 
consummate  skill  ;  for  no  actor  ever  yet  produced  the 
effect  of  nature  by  being  perfectly  natural.  While  not 
the  founder  of  a  new  school,  he  yet  made  and  left  upon 
his  age  the  impression  of  being  a  unique  actor";  be- 
cause he  possessed,  in  unprecedented  variety  and  ful- 


CONCLUSION.  223 

ness,  the  finest  faculties  and  attributes  of  the  best 
school  of  the  past.  His  intellectual  ancestors  —  if  the 
present  writer  is  not  mistaken  —  were  Robert  Wilks 
and  Thomas  Dogget.*  He  possessed  all  the  delicacy, 
versatility,  and  deep  feeling  of  the  one,  and  more  than 
the  glowing  humor  and  consistent  and  polished  art  of 
the  other.  "  I  can  only  copy  nature  from  the  originals 
before  me,"  said  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller  to  Dogget ;  "but 
you  can  vary  them  at  pleasure,  and  yet  preserve  the 
likeness."  This,  undoubtedly,  was  likewise  true  of 
Jefferson  ;  and  there  can  be  no  testimonial  more  ex- 
planatory of  his  charm,  or  more  significant  of  his 
exalted  powers  and  achievements,  alike  in  the  conser- 
vation, the  improvement,  and  the  transmission  of  the 
best  traditions  of  comedy-acting  on  the  English  stage, 
than  the  eloquent  fact  that,  to  the  end  of  his  long 
career,  the  actors  best  qualified  to  judge  of  such  a 
matter* —  the  actors  like  Hodgkinson,  Cooper,  Kean, 
and  Forrest  —  heartily  and  with  one  accord  pronounced 
him  the  finest  comedian  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 

Upon  the  intellectual  career  of  Jefferson  the 
Third  it  is  not  needful  here  to  pause.  His  character 
and  his  life  had  the  calm  beauty  of  an  autumn  land- 
scape, of  wooded  hills  and  browning  meadows,  when 
the  sun  is  going  down.  But  his  achievement  as  an 
actor  was  nerveless  and  colorless,  and  he  exerted  no 
appreciable  influence  upon  the  advancement  of  the 
stage. 

In  Jefferson  the  Fourth  there  is  an  obvious  union 
of  the   salient  qualities  of  his  ancestors.     The  rustic 

*  Wilks,  1670-1732.  —  Dogget.     Obiit.1721. 


224  THE  JEFFERSQNS. 

luxuriance,  manly  vigor,  and  careless  and  adventurous 
disposition  of  the  first  Jefferson,  the  refined  intellect, 
delicate  sensibility,  dry  humor,  and  gentle  tenderness 
of  the  second,  and  the  amiable,  philosophic,  and  drift- 
ing temperament  of  the  third,  all  reappear  in  this  de- 
scendant. But  more  than  either  of  his  ancestors,  and 
more  than  most  of  his  contemporaries,  the  present 
Jefferson  is  an  originator  in  the  art  of  acting.  With 
him  begins  a  new  school  of  comedy,  higher,  though 
not  finer,  than  any  that  was  ever  before  known  on  the 
English-speaking  stage.  The  comedians  of  the  Bur- 
badge  and  Betterton  periods  undoubtedly  were  rich  in 
humor,  and  a  few  of  them  seem  to  have  possessed 
superb  artistic  faculty  in  its  display ;  but  the  inquirer 
will  read  many  volumes  of  theatrical  history,  and  trav- 
erse a  wide  field  of  time,  before  he  will  come  upon  a 
great  representative  of  human  nature  in  the  realm  that 
is  signified  by  Touchstone,  or  Jacques,  or  the  fool  in 
''King  Lear."  Wilks,  certainly,  must  have  been  a 
great  comedian.  He  had  tragic  powers,  too,  and  he 
was  capable  of  tenderness,  and  his  artistic  method  was 
studiously  thorough ;  but  it  was  in  gay  parts  that  he 
was  best,  —  in  Sir  Harry  Wildair  and  Henry  the 
Fifth.  The  comedians  of  the  Garrick  period,  aside 
from  its  illustrious  chieftain,  made  but  little  advance 
upon  those  of  the  Restoration.  The  parts  that  were 
simply  humorous  continued  to  be  the  parts  that  were 
acted  best.  Even  Garrick  mostly  kept  his  pathos  for 
his  tragedy  :  it  was  the  glittering  splendor  of  vitality 
that  dazzled,  in  his  Don  Felix,  and  it  was  the  various 
and  wonderful  comic  eccentricity  that  delighted,  in  his 


CONCLUSION.  225 

Abel  D  rugger.  The  growth  of  comedy-acting,  never- 
theless, took  the  direction  of  the  heart.  King,  the  first 
Sir  Peter  Teazle,  had  at  least  a  ray  of  pathetic  warmth. 
Holcroft  and  the  younger  Colman,  breaking  away  from 
the  influence  of  Congreve  and  Wycherley,  set  the 
example  of  writing  in  a  vein  that  called  out  the  human- 
ity no  less  than  the  humor  of  the  comedians.  The 
influence  of  thrilling  tragic  genius,  like  that  of  Barry, 
John  Henderson,  and  Mrs.  Siddons,  lent  its  aid  to 
foster  the  development  of  its  sister  art.  Munden, 
Dowton,  and  kindred  spirits  came  upon  the  scene  ;  and 
it  was  soon  proved  and  felt  and  recognized  that  humor 
is  all  the  more  humor  when  it  makes  the  tear  of  pity 
glisten  through  the  smile  of  pleasure.  From  that  day 
to  this  the  stage  in  England  and  America  has  presented 
one  unbroken  line  of  comedians,  who  —  possessed  of 
diversified  humor,  ranging  from  that  of  Rabelais  to 
that  of  Sterne  —  have  also  possessed  the  generous 
warmth  of  Steele,  the  quaint  kindliness  of  Lamb,  the 
pitying  gentleness  of  Hood,  or  the  sad-eyed  charity  of 
Thackeray.  From  that  day  to  this  the  art  of  comedy- 
acting  has  been  allied  to  a  purpose  that  aimed  far 
higher  than  to  make  the  world  laugh.  In  Jefferson  the 
Second  this  wholesome  growth  attained  to  its  splendid 
maturity,  and  pathos  and  humor  were  perfectly  blended. 
It  remained  thai  a  rare  and  exquisite  form  of  genius 
should  irradiate  mirth  and  tenderness  with  the  glorious 
light  of  poetic  imagination.  The  fulfilment  came  with 
Jefferson  the  fourth.  Most  other  comedians  of  this 
century  suggest  their  prototypes  in  the  past.  Owens, 
Florence,  Bass,  Setchell,  and   Burton  are  names  that 


226  THE  JEFFERSONS. 

instantly  point  to  a  glorious  lineage ;  calling  up  the 
shades  of  Wright,  Reeves,  Suett,  Liston,  Nokes,  Kempe, 
and  Lowin.  Hackett,  the  only  great  Fat 'staff 'of  the 
nineteenth  century,  —  unless  Warren  equalled  or  ex- 
celled him,  —  always  to  be  remembered  as  a  represen- 
tative actor,  was  obviously  the  descendant  of  Cibber 
and  Quin.  The  honored  name  of  John  Gilbert  was 
long  since  written  with  those  of  Webster,  Farren,  and 
Munden ;  and  to  that  family  belonged  the  courtly 
Placide,  the  polished  and  commanding  Sedley,  and  the 
hearty,  robust,  and  gentle  Mark  Smith.  Sothern,  that 
prince  of  elegant  caricature  and  soul  of  waggery,  was 
plainly  of  the  school  of  Foote,  Finn,  and  Mathews ; 
while  in  many  attributes  John  T.  Raymond  is  of  the 
same  lineage,  with  an  infusion  of  Tate  Wilkinson.  Les- 
ter Wallack,  the  most  picturesque  figure  of  a  famous 
race,  comes  down  to  us  in  the  brilliant  comedy-line  of 
Mountfort,  Elliston,  and  Charles  Kemble  ;  while  John 
S,  Clarke  is  the  heir  in  genius  of  Harry  Woodward  and 
John  Emery,  and  more  versatile  and  brilliant  than 
either.  But  Joseph  Jefferson  is  unlike  them  all, — as 
distinct,  as  unique,  and  also  as  exquisite,  as  Charles 
Lamb  among  essayists,  or  George  Darley  among  lyri- 
cal poets.  No  actor  of  the  past  prefigured  him, — 
unless,  perhaps,  it  was  John  Bannister,  —  and  no  name, 
throughout  the  teeming  annals  of  art  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  has  shone  with  a  more  genuine  lustre,  or  can 
be  more  proudly  and  confidently  committed  to  the  re- 
membrance and  esteem  of  posterity. 


INDEX. 


"  Abtellino,"  84,  145,  146. 
"Abbe  de  L'Epee,"  87. 
Abercrombie,     Rev.     Dr.,     117 

note. 
Abington,  Mrs.,  16;  sketch  of, 

17;  mention,  23,   28,  46,  47, 

48  note,  86. 
"Across  the  Atlantic,"  191. 
Adams,  President  John,  113. 
Adams,  President  John  Q.,  113. 
Addison,  Joseph,  149  note. 
"  Adelmorn,"  87. 
Adclphi  Theatre,  London,  188, 

189,  197. 
"Adopted  Child,"  82. 
"^Esop     in    the    Shades,"    4S 

note. 
"  Agnes  de  Vere,"  199. 
"  Agreeable  Surprise,"  37. 
"Aladdin,"  199. 
"Alarming  Sacrifice,"  198. 
Albany,  N.Y.,  64,  169. 
"Alchemist,"  8,  20. 
"  Alexander  the  Great,"  20. 
Alexandria,  Va.,  65,  126. 
"Alfred,"  19. 
Allen,    Andrew    Jackson,    1 40, 

146. 
Allen,  Mrs.,  140. 
Allen,  Mrs.  J.  If.,  I  S3. 
"All  for  Love,"  21. 
Allingham,  J.  T.,  90. 
"  All  that  Glitters  is  not  Gold," 

200. 


"  Alonzo,"  19. 

Also/,  Mrs.  (daughter  of  Dora 
Jordan),  75. 

"  Ambrose  Gwynette,"  145. 

Ambrose,  Mrs.,  23. 

"  Amphytrion,"  18. 

Anderson,  David  C,  155. 

Anderson,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Ja- 
cob Thoman,  Mrs.  Saun- 
ders), 95,  187  note. 

Anderson,  Mrs.  See  Euphemia 
Jefferson. 

Anderson,  Jane  (Mrs.  G.  C. 
Germon),  77,  95,  122,  142, 
147,  187  note. 

Anderson,  Wtn.,  95,  140. 

Andrews,  Miles  Peter,  85. 

"  Animal  Magnetism,"  92,  199. 

Annapolis,  Md.,  132. 

Anne,  Queen,  39. 

"  Antony  and  Cleopatra,"  21. 

Aprice,  Mr.,  47. 

Archer,  Mrs.  Thomas,  132. 

"  Archers,  The,"  80. 

Arch  Street  Theatre,  Philadel- 
phia, r 25,  [88,  194,  196,  199. 

A  me,  Dr.  Thomas  Augustine, 
28. 

Arnold,  Dr.  Samuel  (Music), 
81,  96,  124  note. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  151. 

Arnold,  Samuel  James,  90,  124 
note. 

Arthur,  Mr.,  44. 


228 


INDEX. 


Astor    Place,    Opera    House, 

N.  Y.,  8  note. 
"As  You  Like  it,"  20,  81,  92, 

197. 
"Athelstan,"  14. 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  179. 
Augusta,  Ga.,  95,  179. 


"Baby,"  200. 

Bailey,  Mrs.,  141. 

Baker,  David  Erskine,  44  note. 

Baker,  H.  £.,  preface. 

Baker,  Mrs.  Letvis.     See  Clara 

Fisher. 
Balmerino,  Lord,  10. 
Baltimore,    Md.,    56   note,   68, 

69.  72.95.  99.  "8  note,  122, 

132,   140,  143,  168,  169,  179, 

187  note,  192,  195. 
Baltimore  Museum,  179. 
Bank  of  England,  76. 
Bannister,  Chas.,  1 1  note. 
Bannister,  Jo/in,  47,  226. 
Bannister,  iV.II,  158. 
Barber,  Miss,  199. 
"Barber  of  Seville,"  199. 
Barnes,  Eng.,  3  note. 
Barnes,  John,  155. 
Barrett,  Geo.  H.,  72,  140. 
Barrett,    Mrs.    Geo.    II.    (Miss 

Henry,   Mrs.    \V.   C.   Drum- 

mond),  140. 
Barrett,  Giles  £.,  57. 
Barrett,  Mrs.  Giles  L.,  57,  72. 
Barriere,  Henry,  140. 
Barry,    Mrs.    Elizabeth    (Mrs. 

Dancer,  Mrs.  Crawford),  12, 

23- 
Barry,  Spranger,  12,  13,  14,  18, 

23.  26,  39,  47.  48  note,  225. 
Barry,  T.  (of  England),  23. 
Barry  more,  Maurice,  214. 
Bass,  Charles,  225. 
Bateman,  Ellen,  101. 
Bat eman,    Kale,    8    note,    101, 

183. 


Bateman,  H.  L.,  161,  183. 
Bateman,  Mrs.  H.  L.,  101,  183. 
Bateman,  Virginia,  101. 
Bates,  Win.,  57. 
Bath  Abbey,  40  note. 
Bath,  Eng.,  91. 
Bath  Theatre,  59. 
"Battle  of  Hexham,"  81. 
Beaum'archais,  P.  IV.  C.  de,  129 

note. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  19. 
"  Beauty  and  the  Beast,"  199. 
"  Beaux'  Stratagem,"  3  note,  6. 
"Beggar   of    Bethnal    Green," 

!3S- 

"Begone,  Dull  Care,     100. 

Bellamy,  George  Anne,  preface, 
39  note. 

"  Belle  Helene,"  161. 

Bennet,  Mrs.  Thomas,  24. 

Bennett,  W.,  188. 

Benton,  Mr.,  98. 

Bernard,  John,  preface,  10  note, 
13  note,  19,  sketch  32,  men- 
tion 33,  34,  38,  39,  51,  60,  63. 

Bernard,  Mrs.  John,  34. 

Bernard,  Airs.  Chas.  See  Miss 
Tilden. 

Bernard,  IVm.  Bayle,  33  note, 
187  note. 

Berry,  Mr.,  24. 

Betterton,  Thomas,  224. 

Beverley  Theatre,  30. 

Bickerstaff,  Isaac,  15,  22,  79, 
88. 

Bignatt,  Mr.,  77. 

Birch,  Samuel,  82. 

Birmingham,  Eng.,  67. 

Bishop,  T.  H;  142. 

Black,  Jeremiah,  Chief  Justice, 
107  note. 

Blake,  Wm.  R.,  155,  178,  179, 
180. 

Blake,  Mrs.  Wm.  R.,  180,  183. 

B lakes,  Mr.,  24. 

Blanchard,  Tom,  37,  38. 

Bland,  "  Jemmy,"  95. 


INDEX. 


229 


"  Blind  Boy,"  88,  145. 

Blissett,  Francis,  preface,  65, 
66;  sketch  of,  91  ;  mention, 
97,  105  note,  155. 

Bloxton,  Mrs.  See  Mrs.  Sey- 
mour. 

"  Blue  Beard,"  87. 

"  Blue  Devils,"  200. 

Boaden,  James,  86. 

Boieldieu,  Adrian  Francis,  88. 

"  Bold  Stroke  for  a  Husband," 

79- 
"  Bombastes  Furioso,"  79. 
"  Bondocani,"  88. 
"  Bon  Ton,"  88. 
"  Book  of  the  Pilot,"  74. 
Booth,  Edwin,  preface,  1 55, 178, 

192. 
Booth,    'Junius  Brutus,  72,  76, 

132,  154,  178,  198. 
Booth,  Mrs.  J.   B.,   Jr.,   Miss 

I  )c  Biir    14"*. 
Booth's    Theatre,    N.  Y.,    192, 

'93-  ,       , 

Boston,    33    note,    51,    56,    56 

note,    59,    63,   90,    95,    125, 

192. 
Boston  Museum,  125. 
Boston  Theatre  (Federal  St.), 

53  note. 
Boswell,  James,  23,  93,  94. 
Boucicault,  Dion,  159,  182,  183, 

186,    189,   197,  198,  199,  200, 

211. 
Boucicault,  Mrs.  Dion,  1S3. 
"  Bourville  Castle,"  82. 
Bowers,  Mrs.  D.  P.,  178. 
Bowery  Theatre,    New    York, 

31,52,96,  125,  139,  155,  158, 

187  note,  194. 
"Box  and  Cox,"  199. 
Bray,  John,  94. 
Brett,    Miss    Arabella      (Mrs. 

John    Hodgkinson),    59,   61, 

82. 
Brett,  Mrs,  (mother  of  Mrs.  J. 

Hodgkinson),  53,  61. 


Brewster,  B.  F,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral of  Pen  11.,  no. 

Bristol,  Eng.,  64. 

Bristol,  Pa.,  124  note. 

Broadway  Theatre,  N.  Y.,  155 
note. 

"Broken  Sword,"  135. 

Brooke,  Mrs.  (Frances  Moore), 

79- 
Brooklyn  Museum,  162. 
"  Brothers,  The,"  20,  64,  89. 
B rough  Brothers,  198. 
B rough,  William,  200. 
Brougham,  John,  179. 
Brougham's  Lyceum,  N.Y.,179. 
Brown,  Frederick,  104. 
Brown,  J.  Allston,  preface,  133. 
Browne,  Dr.  John,  14. 
Browne,  Isaac  Hawkins  ("  To- 
bacco Browne  "),  93. 
Brunton,  Anne  (Mrs.  Wignell, 

Mrs.   Merry,  Mrs.  Warren), 

63.  64,  65,  68. 
Brunton,  Louisa  (Countess  of 

Craven),  65. 
Buckingham,   Second  Duke  of, 

16,  19. 
Bucks  tone,  J.  B.,  173,  188. 
"  Budget  of  Blunders,"  91,  199. 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  125. 
"  Bulse  of  Diamonds,"  87. 
"Bunker  Hill,"  85. 
Buntline,JVed(E.  C.  Z.  Judson), 

158. 
Burgoyne,  Gen.  John,  S6,  87. 
Burham,  Eng.,  194. 
Burke,  Charles  St.   Thomas. 
his  birth,  153. 
his  debut,  153. 
his  youth,  1  54. 
his    rivalry    with    Burton, 

'54.  1  55- 
his  last  appearance,  155. 
his  death,  156. 
his  marriages,  156. 
his  personal  character,  1 56, 

162. 


230 


INDEX. 


Burke,  Charles  St.  Thomas. 
list  of  parts,  157,  158. 
his   "Rip   Van    Winkle," 
159,  160,  186  et  sea.,  197, 
21 1. 
mention,  preface,  141,  174, 
177,  1S6. 
Burke,  Mrs.  Charles  (Margaret 

Murcoyne),  156. 
Burke,     Mrs.     Charles     (Mrs. 

Sutherland),  156,  177. 
Burke,  E  J  in  ti  1  id,  40,  47. 
Burke,  lone  (lone  Sutherland), 

156,  183,  184. 
Burke,  John  £>.,  55. 
Burke,    Thomas,  70,  140,  153  ; 
sketch  of,  167  ;  mention,  168, 
169. 
Burke,  Mrs.  Thomas  (Cornelia 
Frances  Thomas).    See  Mrs. 
Joseph  Jefferson  [3rd]. 
Burnett,  J.  G.,  180,  181,  1S4. 
Burns,  Robert,  40. 
Burton,  William  E.,   100,   154, 
155  note,  178,  1S2,  199,  220, 

Burton's  Theatre,  N.  Y.,  154. 
Busby,  Dr.,  89. 
"  Busybody,"  17,  27,  28. 
Butler,  Samuel  (manager),  30, 

31- 

Butler,  Mrs.  Samuel.  See  Fran- 
ces Jefferson. 

Butler,  Samuel,  Jr.,  31. 

Butler,  Mrs.  Samuel,  Jr.,  31. 

Byron,  Henry  J.,  185,  199, 
200. 

Byron,  Lord,  41. 


Cafferty,  Mr.,  98. 

Cain,  Mr.,  65. 

Ca /dwell,  James   H.,   97,    146, 

168. 
"  Caliph  of  Bagdad,"  88. 
Callao,  1S5. 
Camden,  Lord  Chancellor,  47. 


Cameron,  Simon,  no. 

Canning,  Mrs.  (Mary  Ann  Cos- 
tello),  19. 

Canning,  George,  19. 

"Captain  Kyd,"  157. 

"  Captive  of  Spilsberg,"  84. 

"Careless  Husband,"  18. 

Carpenter,  C.  S.,  97. 

"Carpenter  of  Rouen,"  199. 

Cartzvright,  William,  18. 

"  Castle  Spectre,"  85,  86. 

Castleton,  Staten  Island,  140. 

"  Catching  an  Heiress,"  95. 

Cave,  Edward  (Gentleman's 
Magazine),  93. 

Centlivre,  Mrs.  Susanna,  16,  18, 
28,  93. 

Chambers,  Mrs.,  44. 

"  Chamooni  the  Third,"  200. 

"  Chances,  The,"  19. 

Chanfrau,  Frank  S.,  154,  156, 
162,  169,  175,  177,  178,  194. 

Chanfrau,  Mrs.  F.  S.,  184. 

Chapman,  Samuel,  103,  130, 
131,  170. 

Chapman,  Mrs.  S.  (Mrs.  Rich- 
ardson, Mrs.  Fisher).  See 
Elizabeth  Jefferson. 

Chapman,  W.,  1S7  note. 

"  Chapter  of  Accidents,"  90. 

Charles  Edward  Stuart  ("  The 

Pretender"),  4,  10. 
"Charles  the  Second"  (Play), 

92. 
Charleston,  S.  C  ,  59,  160,  166, 
179,  209. 

Chatham,  Earl  of,  40. 
Chatham  Garden  Theatre,  N. 
Y.,  64,  73,  140,  146. 

Chatterton,  Thomas,  40. 

Cherry,  Andrew,  89. 
"  Cheshire  Cheese,"  93. 
Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  Phil- 
adelphia, preface,  13,  33 
note,  56  note,  61,  63,  64,  65, 
6S,  69,  70,  71,  76,  77,  89,  91, 
95)  9°.  99,  io!>  '08,  118,  120, 


INDEX. 


231 


122,  124  note,  129,  131,  139, 

148,153,  155. 
Chicago,  111.,  56  note,  142,  169, 

174,  196. 
"  Child  of  the  Regiment,"  178, 

200. 
"  Children  of  the  Wood,"  96. 
"Chimes,  The"  (Play),!  58. 
Churchill,  Charles,  23,  47. 
Church  of  Holy  Trinity,  Strat- 

ford-on-Avon,  196. 
Ciiber,  Colley,  15,  18,  19,  22,  39, 

43,44,68,  79,82,88,  89,  145, 

197,  229. 
Cibber,  Susanna,  47. 
Cibber,  Theophilus,  43,  44. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  56  note,  172, 

1 87,  187  note. 
"  C inderella "  ( Pantomime ),  94, 

96. 
City  Hall,  N.  Y.,  174. 
"Civilians,  The,"  37  note. 
"Clandestine  Marriage,"  47. 
Clapp,  IV.  Jfi,  preface,  53  note. 
Clark,  Mrs.  P.  M.  (Mrs.  <  i.  Mar- 
shall).    See  Miss  Harding. 
Clarke,  John  II,  131. 
Clarke,  John  S.,  159,  160,  193, 

214,  226. 
Claude,  Mrs.  (Miss  Hogg),  61. 
Clifton,  Ailit,  180. 
Clifton,  Josephine,  170. 
Clinton,  Mr.  (actor),  l8l. 
Cli'oe,  General,  40. 
Clive,  Kitty,  46,  47. 
Cobb,  James,  80,  81,  88,  89,  90. 
Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  41. 
"Colleen  Pawn,"  183. 
Colli ns,  Mr.,  140. 
Collyer,  Rev.  Robert.    His  opin- 
ion of  "Rip   Van   Winkle," 

191. 
Caiman,  George  (Elder),  21,  So, 

1 29  note. 
Colman,  George  (Younger),  40, 

53,  79,80,  81,  85,  87,  89,  90, 

92,  145,  198,  225. 


Columbian  Centinel  (newspa- 
per), 53  note. 

"Columbia's  Daughter,"  85. 

"Columbus,"  86. 

"Comedy  of  Errors,"  86,  89. 

"Committee,  The,"  10,  16. 

Commonwealth  Theatre,  N.  Y., 
39  note. 

Compton,  Henry  {Mackenzie), 
214. 

Congrct'e,  William,  16,  22,  28, 
22  ^. 

"Conjugal  Lesson,"  198. 

Connor,  E.  S.,  172. 

Conover,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  J.  H.  Stod- 
dart),  179. 

"Conquering  Game,"  145. 

Conway,  Mrs.  F.  B.  (Miss 
Crocker),  178. 

Conway,  William  A.,  73. 

Cooper,  Thomas  A.,  55,  57,  62, 
71,  71,,  10S,  124  note,  223. 

Corneille,  22. 

CorrS,  Joseph,  61. 

"  Corsican  Lovers,"  22. 

Couldock,  C.  W.,  180,  181,  184. 

"  Count  Benyowsky,"  61,  86. 

"  County  Heiress,"'  88. 

Courtney,  II,  200. 

Covent  Garden  Theatre,  3  note, 
7,8  note,  11,  15,  18,  20,  22, 
32  note,  33,  45  note,  46  note, 
59,  62  note,  64,  73,  79-92, 
116  note,  U5,  143  note,  158, 
197-199. 

II,  Joseph  /..,  sketch  of,  S 
note;    mention,   preface,    68 

note,  77,  94,  95.  IDI.  II2> 
129,  131  note,  132,  146,  147 
note,  172. 

.',  Mrs.  Joseph  L.,  77. 
,  Sam,  101. 

7,   Sydney   Frances.     See 
Mrs.  II.  P.  Bateman. 
Cowell,  Mrs.  W.  (Anna  Cruise), 

178. 
Cowley,  Mrs.  Hannah,  64, 79, 88. 


232 


INDEX. 


Cowper,  Win.,  40. 

Cowper,  Mrs.,  24. 

Coyle,  Robert,  139. 

Crabbe,  George,  50. 

Craven,  Countess  of  (Louisa 
Brunton),  65. 

Crawford,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Dancer, 
Mrs.  Barry),  12,  23. 

Crebillon,  15. 

"  Cricket  on  the  Hearth,"  182. 

"Critic,  The,"  16,  Si,  198. 

Crocker,  John,  177. 

Crocker,  Miss  S.  E.  (Mrs.  F. 
B.  Conway),  178. 

Crooke,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Mason, 
Mrs.  Entwistle),  140. 

Crosby,  Sir  Richard  (Mr.  Rich- 
ards), 61. 

Crow   Street  Theatre,  Dublin, 

12,  43- 
Cruikshank,  George,  38. 
Cruise,  Anna  (Mrs.  W.  Cowell), 

178.    . 
Culloden  (Battle  Field),  411. 
Cumberland,  Richard,  preface, 

8  note,  20,  21,  55,  79,  81,89. 
"  Cure  for  the  Heartache,"  90, 

91. 
Cushman,  Charlotte,  15S. 
"Cymbeline,"  21,  83,  158. 
Cypress  Hills,  L.  I.,  196. 


Daly,  Augustin,  193. 
Damaniant,  Mons.,  79. 
Dancer,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Crawford, 

Mrs.  Barry),  12,  23. 
Darley,  Felix  O.  C,  98. 
Darley,  George,  226. 
Darley,  John,  70,  77,  98. 
Darley,  Mrs.   John    (E.    Wes- 

tray),  58,  77,  98. 
Davenant,  Sir  William,  1 2 5. 
Davenport,  A.  H.  ("Dolly,"), 

183. 
Davenport,  E.  L.,  220. 
Davies,  Tom,  preface,  23,  26,  27. 


Davies,  Mrs.  Tom,  23,  24. 

Davis,  L.  Clarke,  preface,   158, 
159,  186. 

Dawes,  Gertrude,  178. 

"Dead  Shot,"  31,  199. 

De  Bar,  Miss  Blanche  (Mrs.  J. 
B.  Booth,  Jr.),  142. 

De  Blois,  Mons.,  53  note. 

"  Deep,  Deep  Sea,"  135. 

"  Delays  and  Blunders,"  89. 

Dell,  Henry,  15. 

Derrick,  Samuel  (the  pen-cut- 
ter), 93. 

Dent,  John,  82. 

"Deserted  Daughter,"  54,  62 
note,  79. 

Dessalines,  John  fames,  165. 

De  Vendel,  Mr.  E.  (manager, 
Mobile),  147. 

"  Devil  upon  Two  Sticks,"  90. 

Dexter,  Mr.,  12,  23. 

Dibdin,  Charles,  79,  199. 

Dibdin,  Thomas,  84,  85,  88,  125. 

Dickens,  Charles,  135,  158,  182. 

Dodd,  James,  47. 

Doddrell,  Dr.,  87. 

"  Doldrum,  The,"  83. 

Dogget,  Thomas,  223. 

"Don  Juan"  (Play),  87. 

"  Don  Quixote,"  80. 

Dorset  Gardens  Theatre,  125. 

"  Dot,"  200. 

"  Double  Gallant,"  iS. 

"  Double-faced  People,"  200. 

"  Douglas,"  117,  125. 

Dow,  Alexander,  15. 

Downie,  Mr.,  66. 

Downie,  Mrs.,  66. 

Dowton,  William,  225. 

Drake,  Samuel,  Sr.,  97. 

"  Dramatist,"  59,  90. 

Drew,  John,  179. 

Drew,  Mrs.  John,  171,  179, 
213,  217,  218  note. 

Drummond,  Mrs.  W.  C.  (Mrs. 
Henry).  See  Mrs.  G.  H. 
Barrett. 


INDEX. 


233 


Drury  Lane  Theatre,  7,8  note, 
10,  n,  12,  14-16,  18-25,  27, 
28,  34,  39-  4i  note,  46,  48 
note,  55,  57, 73,  74,  79~8-.  s4~ 
90,  92,  101 ,  1 24  note,  1 57,  19S. 

Dryden,  John,  15,  18,  21,  125. 

Dublin,  Ireland,  II,  12,  29,  32, 
4°,  43.  74  note. 

"  Duenna,  The,"  88. 

Duff,  John  A.,  169  note. 

Du(f,  John  R.,  74  note. 

Duff,  Mrs.  Mary,  sketch  of,  74 
note. 

Dumas,  Mr.  {manager,  Mobile), 
147. 

"  Dumb  Belle,"  135. 

Dunlap,  William,  preface,  48 
note,  53  note,  54,  55,  57,  58, 
63,  64  note,  66,  80-90,  124 
note,  145. 

Dunn,  Rosa  (Mrs.  L.  Lewis), 
185. 

Dura  tig,  C,  140. 

Durang,  Mrs.  C,  140. 

Durang,  John,  66. 

Durang,  Mrs.  John,  66. 

Durie,  Mrs.,  132. 

Dwyer,  Mr.,  104. 


Eagle  Theatre,  Buffalo,  125, 

"  East  Indian,  The,"  84. 

Edinburgh,  196. 

Edwards,  Henry,  185. 

Edwin,  William,  142. 

Ell  is  ton,  R.  W.,7$,  226. 

Ellslcr,  John,  179. 

Finery,  John,  125,  226. 

"  Englishman  in  Puis,  The, "24. 

Entwistle,  Mr.,  75. 

Entivistle,  Mrs.  (Mrs.   Mason, 

Mrs.  Crooke),  140. 
■  I  .thiop,  The,"  69. 
•'  Evangeline,"  183. 
"Every  Man  in  His Humor,"82. 
"  Every  One  has  His    Fault," 

89. 


Exeter,  England,  37. 

Exeter  Theatre,  10,  12,  29,  32, 

42,  74- 
"Exile,  The,"  143  note. 


Fagan,  Mons.,  79. 

"  Fair  Fugitive,"  89. 

"  Fair  Penitent,"  10,  21. 

"  Fair  Quaker,"  19. 

Faleoner,  Edmund,  200. 

"  False  Delicacy,"  19. 

"  False  Shame,"  6i,  85. 

"  Family  Jars,"  173. 

Farjeon',  B.  L.,  185,  195. 

Farjeon,  Mrs.  B.  L.  See  Mar- 
garet Jane  Jefferson. 

"  Farmer,  The,"  Il6. 

Farquhar,  George,  6,  16,  21. 

Farren,  William,  226. 

"  Fashionable  Levities,"  88. 

"  Fashionable  Lover,"  21. 

"  Fatal  Discovery,"  15. 

"  Fatal  Marriage,"  14. 

Faiveett,  John,  198. 

Fawkes,  Gen.,  9. 

Federal  Street  Theatre  (Bos- 
ton Theatre),  53  note. 

"Female  Forty  Thieves,"  158. 

Fennell,  James,  88  ;  sketch,  124 
note ;  mention,  126. 

Fielding,  Henry,  86,  92,  93,  94, 
151. 

"  Ficsco  The,"  87. 

Fifth  Avenue  Theatre,  N.  Y., 

Finn,  Henry  J.,  134,  155,  173. 

174,  220. 
"  First  Floor,  The,"  90. 
"  First  Love,"  81. 
Fisher,   Alexina    (Mrs.     Lewis 

Baker),  142. 
Fisher,     Charles     J.    B.,    133, 

147. 
Fisher,   Clara  (Mrs.    Maeder), 

133,  141.  147- 
Fisher,  Clara  (\  oungcr),  133. 


234 


INDEX. 


Fisher,   Mrs.      See    Elizabeth 

Jefferson. 
Fisher,  John,  131. 
Fiske,  Stephen,  194. 
Fitz-Henry,  Mrs.,  12,  23. 
"  Five  Thousand  a  Year,"  85. 
Fleetwood,  Chas.  (manager),  11. 
Fletcher,    John     (statue-man), 

123. 
Florence,  William  J.,  225. 
"  Florizel  and  Perdita,"  16. 
Floyd,  William  R.,  191. 
Fly  mi,  Miss,  182. 
Fly  tin,  Thomas,  1S7  note. 
"  Follies  of  a  Day,"  86. 
"  Follies  of  Fashion,"  88. 
"  Folly  as  It  Flies,"  88. 
"  Fontainebleau,"  83. 
Foote,  Josiah,  12,  32. 
Foote,  Samuel,    12,  24,   39,  41, 

47,  48  note,  80,  83,  90,  226. 
"  Force  of  Calumny,"  84. 
Ford,  John   T.,  preface  ;  Rem- 
iniscences of  Jefferson  Third, 

142. 
Ford's     Theatre,     Baltimore, 

193,  214. 
Forrest,  Edwin,  73,  89,  120,  121, 

134,  143.  r46,  158,  179,  223. 
Forrest,  Mrs.  Edwin,  134. 
Forrest,  William,  77,  121. 
"  Fortress,  The,"  70,  71. 
Fortune,  Esther  (Mrs.  William 

Warren-,  Sr.),  56. 
Fortune,  Euphemia.     See  Mrs. 

Joseph  Jefferson  2d. 
Fortune.  Mrs.,  55. 
"  Fortune's  Fool,"  83. 
"  Forty  Thieves,"  141. 
Fourteenth  Street  Theatre,  N. 

Y.,  160. 
Fox,  Geo.  I.,  178,  191. 
Fox,  Mr.,  61,  66. 
"Fra    Diavolo"    (Burlesque), 

200. 
Francis,    Wm.,  65,  66,  70,  99, 

108,  124  note,  126. 


Francis,    Mrs.     Wm.,    66,    70, 

77- 
Franklin,  Andrew,  85. 
Franklin    Theatre,    N.  Y.,   95, 

141,  174. 
Eraser,  Simon  (Lord  Lovat),  9, 

10. 
"  Fraternal  Discord,"  58,  83. 
Freeman,  Mr.,  J2. 
"  Frenchified  Lady,"  15. 
"  Funeral,  The,"  25. 


Gainsborough,  Thos.,  47. 

Galena,  111.,  169. 

Galloway,  James,  214,  218  note. 

Gait,  John,  preface,  41  note. 

"Gamester,"  16,  21. 

Garcia,  Mad.,  133. 

Garner,  Mr.,  "j"j. 

Garrick,  David,  preface,  10-19, 
21,  27,  28,  39,  40,  41,  45-48 
note,  60,  63,  79, 80,  83,  91,  93, 
112,  125,  165,  219,  220,  224; 
his  first  meeting  with  Jeffer- 
son, 5,  6;  professional  asso- 
ciation with  Jefferson,  7, 
219;  his  Abel  Drugger,  8, 
20 ;  his  first  dramatic  at- 
tempt, 93. 

Garrick,  Peter,  93. 

Gates,  Gen.  Horatio,  86. 

Gates,  Wm.,  155. 

Geneste,  Mr.,  28. 

George  II,  3,  41  note,  83. 

George  III,  41  note. 

George  IV.,  \i  note. 

Gerard,  Mons.,  24. 

Germon,  Effie,  95,  180,  182. 

Germon,  G.  C,  95. 

Germon,  Mrs.  (Jane  Ander- 
son), 77,  95,  122,  142,  147, 
187  note. 

"  Gheber,  The,"  74. 

Gibbon,  Edward,  47. 

Gibson,  Judge  John  B.,  sketch 
of,  107  note  ;  mention,  108. 


INDEX. 


235 


Gibson,  Lieut.  Col.,  107  note. 

Gifford,  Wtn.,  64. 

Gilbert,  John,  226. 

"  Gil  Bias"  (Pantomime),  8S. 

Gilliland  Mr.  (Dramatic  Mir- 
ror), preface,  25,  33  note. 

Gladstane,  Miss.  See  Mrs.  J. 
D.  Rice. 

Globe  Theatre,  Boston,  90. 

Glover,  Mr.,  23. 

Godwin,  Win.,  198. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  40,  47,  19S. 

Goodman's  Fields  Theatre,  11, 
48  note. 

"  Good  Neighbor,  The,"  88. 

"  Good  Spec,  The,"  90. 

Gounod  Chas.  (composer),  93. 

"Grande  Duchesse,"  160. 

Grand  Opera  House,  N.V.,  194. 

Gray,  Thomas,  40. 

Gray,  yackson,  98. 

Greene,  John,  70,  77. 

Greene.  Mrs.  John  (Annie 
Nuskay),  70.  77. 

"Green  Alan,  The,"  125. 

Greenwood  Cemetery,  74  note. 

"  Guardian,  The,"  79. 

Guernsey,  91. 

Gumer,  Mrs.  (Miss  Telbin), 
132,  141. 

"  Guy  Mannering,"  91. 


Hackett,  J.  H.,  125,  154,  187, 

188,  21  r,  226. 
Hadaway,   Thomas,  155. 
"Half  an  Hour  After  Supper," 

83; 

f/il/am,  John,  77. 

JIallam,  Lewis,  52,  53,  55,  58, 

59,  61. 
lid  lam,     Mrs.     Lewis      (Miss 

Luke),  57,  61. 
Hallam,  Mirvin,  77. 
Hamblin,  Tkos.,  73,  179. 
Hamilton,  Mrs.,  23. 
Hamilton,  W.  II,  178. 


"Hamlet,"  21,  80,  145,  197. 

Hampton,  Eng.,  47. 

Hanchett,  Mrs.  (Emma  War- 
ren, Mrs.  Price),  56  note. 

"  Handsome  Husband,"  200. 

"  Happiest  Day  of  my  Life," 
199. 

Harding,  Miss  (Mrs.  G.  Mar- 
shall, Mrs.  P.  M.  Clark),  61, 
140. 

Harkins,  D.  IT,  194. 

"  Harlequin's  Vagaries,"  80. 

Harper,  J.,  61. 

Harper,  Mrs.  J.  (the  1st),  61. 

Harper  <5r=  Brothers,  8  note. 

"  Harper's  Daughter,"  86. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  104,  107,  117, 
ti8,  [22,  141. 

Harrison,  H.  />'.,  1 31. 

Harrison,  Mrs.  IT  /?.,  132,  141. 

Harrowgate  Theatre,  30. 

Hastings,  Warren,  40. 

Hathwell,  Mr.,  70. 

[/,111s !i ton,  Miss,  24. 

"  Haunted  Tower,"  80. 

Havard,  Wm.,  24. 

Hawkesworth,  Dr.  John,  18. 

Hayden,  Mr.,  132. 

Haydon,  Ben/.,  38. 

Haydon,  Benj.  Robert,  38  note. 

Haves,  James  E.,  169. 

Haymarket  Theatre,  London, 
10,  17,  19,  41  note,  71,  79, 
80,  81,  82,  83,  85,  86,  89,  90, 
96,  125,  129  note,  191,  193, 
19S,  190,  214. 
hy,  Mr.,  1  2,  23. 

'•  Hear  Both  Sides,"  89. 

"  Heart  of  Mid  Lothian,"  1S3. 

"  Heir  at  Law,"  85,  1S5,  [98. 

Henderson,  John,  13  note,  39, 
60,  225. 

"  Henry  the  Fourth"  (Shak- 
spi  18,  [54,  1 

Henry  II  '■  of  Eng.,  8l. 
Henry,  John,  59. 
Henry,  Wm.,  142. 


236 


INDEX. 


Henry,  Mrs.  Win.,  141. 

Henry,  Miss  (Mrs.  G.  H.  Bar- 
rett, Mrs.  W.  C.  Drum- 
mond),  140. 

"  Heroine  of  the  Cave,"  16. 

Heron,  Matilda,  183. 

Herring,  Fanny,  178. 

"  He's  Much  to  Blame,"  82. 

Hewitt,  Mr.  (composer),  84. 

"He  Would  be  a  Soldier,"  71, 
91. 

Hey  I,  Lav  is  J.,  77. 

Hiffernan,  Pan/,  16. 

Hill,  Aaron,  34. 

Hoadley,  Dr.  Benj.,  83. 

Hoare,  Prince,  81, 83,  84, 86,  199. 

Hobart  Town,  185. 

Hodges,  Mr.,  147. 

Hodges,  Mrs.  Coppleston  (Miss 
Nelson,  Mrs.  John  Brough- 
am), 147. 

Hodgkinson,  John,  52,  53,  58, 
sketch,  59;  mention,  61,  63, 
90,  114,  223. 

Hodgkinson,  Mrs.  John  (Mrs. 
J.  S.  Munden),  59. 

Hodgkinson,  Mrs.  John  (Miss 
Brett),  59,  61,  82. 

"Hofer,"  157. 

Hogarth,  IVm.,  47. 

Hogg,  John,  58,  61. 

Hogg,  Mrs.  Joint  (Ann  Storer), 
61. 

Hogg,  Miss  (Mrs.  Claude),  61. 

Ilohokus,  N.J.,  20,  148,  192. 

Holero/t,  Thomas,  61,  62  note, 
79,  So,  81,  82,  86,  88,  89,  198, 
225. 

Holland,  Charles,  13  note,  47. 

Holland,  George,  72,  I  S3,  214. 

Holliday  Street  Theatre,  Balti- 
more, 179. 

Holman,  J.  G.,  88. 

"  Home,"  191. 

Home,  Rev.  John,  15,  19,  117, 
125. 

"  Honeymoon,"  89,  92. 


Hood,  Thos.,  161,  225. 
Hook,  Theodore,  71,  87,  90. 
"  Hope  of  the  Family,"  200. 
"  Horse  and  the  Widow,"  84. 
Ho  sack,  H,  77. 
"  House  to  be  Sold,"  89. 
Howard    Athenaeum,    Boston, 

56  note,  125. 
Hcnoard,  James,  77. 
Hotvard,  Sir  Robert,  10,  16. 
Hudson,  Henry,  202,  20S. 
Hudson,  James,  179. 
Hughes,  Charles,  97. 
Hughes,  Mrs.  C,  97. 
Hull,  Thomas,  45,  46  note. 
"  Humorist,  The,"  38. 
"Hunchback,"    3     note,    132, 

134,  135,  141. 
"  Hunchback  of  Notre  Dame, 

135- 

Hunt,  Miss,  66. 

Htinter,  Mr.  (Garrick's  teach- 
er), 93- 

"  Hunter  of  the  Alps,"  145. 

"  Husband  of  an  Hour,"  200. 

Hutton,  Joseph,  97. 

Hutton,  Mrs.  Joseph,  97. 

Hutton,  Laurence,  preface,  ref- 
erence to  Chas.  Burke,  155. 

"Hypocrite,  The,"  15,88. 

"  I  'll  Tell  You  What,"  79. 
"Illustrious     Stranger,"      119 

note,  154,  158. 
"  In  and  Out  of  Place,"  177. 
Tnchbald,    Mrs.    Elizabeth,    79, 

82,  87,  89,  92,  199. 

"  Independence    of    America," 

Si. 
"  Indians  in  England,"  85. 
Ingersoll,  David,  96. 
Ingersoll,    Mrs.    David.       See 

Mary  Anne  Jefferson. 
"  Invisible  Prince,"  1S3,  200. 
"Ion,"  154. 
Ireland,  J.  N.,  preface,  31,  74, 

83,  I32»  H4>  167,  194- 


INDEX. 


237 


"  Irish  Mimic,"  88. 
"  Iron  Chest,"  90,  198. 
Irving,  Pierre  M.,  208. 
Irving,    Washington,    1S6,   201, 

207,  211. 

"Isabel,"  199. 
"Isabella,"  15. 
Isherwood,  IV.,  1S7  note. 
Isherwood,  Mrs.  II.,  177. 
"  Italian  Father,"  61,  86. 
"  Italian  Monk,"  86. 
"  Ivanhoe,"  198. 


Jackson,  Charles,  169. 
Jackson,  Mrs.      See    Cornelia 

Jefferson. 
Jackson,  Gen.,  [13. 
"Jacob  Leisler,"  158. 
Jamieson,  George,  183. 
"  Jane  Shore,"  19. 
"Jealous  Wife,"  21. 
Jefferson,    Charles   Burke   (son 
of  Jefferson  4th),  sketch,  195. 
Jefferson,  Cornelia    (Mrs.  Jack- 
son), daughter  of  Jefferson 
3d,    sketch,    169;    mention, 
174,  180,  1S4. 
Jefferson,  Elizabeth,  daughter 

of  Jefferson  1st,  30. 
Jefferson,      Elizabeth      (Mrs. 
Chapman  -  Richardson- Fish- 
er), daughter  of  Jefferson  2d, 
sketch  of  her  life,  96,  129- 

136. 
her  dibut,  132. 
list  of  characters,  135. 
her  reminiscences  of  Jef- 
ferson 2d,  1 13. 
her  reminiscences   of  Jef- 
ferson ^d,  143. 
her  reminiscences  of  Jef- 
ferson 4th,  173. 
her       reminiscences       of 

Charles  Burke,  156. 
mention,   preface,  44,  122, 
141,  142,  147.  I58.  l87- 


Jefferson,      Enphemia      (Mrs. 
William  Anderson),  daugh- 
ter of  Jefferson  2d,  sketch  of, 
94 ;  mention,  95,  9S,  103. 
Jefferson,  Frances  (Mrs.    Sam- 
uel Butler),  daughter  of  Jef- 
ferson 1st,  30,  31,  34. 
Jefferson,      Frances     Florence, 
daughter  of  Jefferson  4th,  195. 
Jefferson,  Frank,  son  of  Jeffer- 
son 1st,  4,  30. 
Jefferson,  George,  son  of  Jeffer- 
son 1st,  30. 
Jefferson,  Henry,  son  of  Jeffer- 
son 4th,  196. 
Jefferson,    Hester   (Mrs.    Alex- 
ander  McKenzie).  daughter 
of   Jefferson    2d,   sketch   of, 
96;  mention,  98. 
Jefferson,   Jane,    daughter    of 

Jefferson  2d,  96,  103. 
Jefferson,  John,  son  of  Jeffer- 
son 1st,  25. 
Jefferson,  John,  son  of  Jeffer- 
son 2d,  sketch  of,  94 ;  men- 
tion, 70,77,97,  103,104,  n8, 
121,  122,  153,  187  note. 
Jefferson,  Airs.   John   (wife   of 

John  2d),  77. 
Jefferson,  Joseph  (Jefferson  2d), 
mention,  preface,  8,  25,  26, 
28,    31,    124    note,    148, 
20S,  224. 
his  birth,  28,  34,  51.     + 
his  youth  in  England,  51. 
his   emigration    to   Amer- 
ica, 52. 
first  appearance  in  Amer- 
ica, 53. 
professional    life    in    New 

York,  56-63. 
his  marriage,  ^6,  94. 
.  in  "<  »ld  Men,"  62. 
settles  in   Philadelphia,  63 

et  sea. 
his  personal  character,  78, 
112,  114  et  sea.,  126,  221. 


238 


INDEX. 


Jefferson,  Joseph  (Jefferson  2d), 
his   personal   appearance, 

no. 
his  closing  days,  103. 
his  death,  107. 
his  grave,  108. 
his  children,  94-99. 
list  of  parts,  79-94. 
his   Sadi  in  "  Don   Quix- 
ote," 80. 
his  Polo7iius,  80. 
his  Farmer  Ashficld,  83. 
his  Jeremy  Diddler,  89. 
Ludlow's    opinion    of    his 
acting,    71;    Kennedy's, 
77  ;  N.  P.  Willis's,  78  ; 
Joseph    Cowell's,     101  ; 
William   Wood's,    103 ; 
Wemyss's,    106;    Eliza- 
beth Jefferson's  reminis- 
cences of  him,  114. 
Jefferson,    Mrs.    Joseph     (2d), 
Euphemia  Fortune,  mention, 
56,  57,  70,  77,  96,  103. 
her  birth,  94. 
Jefferson,  Joseph  (Jefferson  3d), 
mention,  preface,  8,  94,  95, 
97,  112,  122,  133,  154,    168, 
174,  2o8;  224. 
his  birth,  139. 
his  first  appearance,  139. 
his  marriage,  140. 
his     personal     character, 
*      142,  I43..I44»  148,  223. 
his  versatility,  142. 
his  death,  147. 
list  of  parts,  145. 
his   personal   appearance, 
149  note. 
Jefferson,    Mrs.     Joseph     (3d) 
(Cornelia   Frances   Thomas, 
Mrs.  Burke),  mention,  pref- 
ace,  67,    122,    140,   141,   144, 

153.  x74- 

her  birth,  165. 
her  debut,  167. 
her  marriage  to  Burke,  167. 


Jefferson,     Mrs.    Joseph     (3d), 
her  marriage  to  Jefferson, 

168. 
her  death,  170. 
her  grave,  156,  170. 
Ludlow's  reminiscences  of 
her,  168. 
Jefferson,    Joseph    (4th),    men- 
tion, preface,  4,  20,  29,  67, 
72,  105  note,  109,  no,  123, 
124,  141,  142,  148,  159,  161, 
168. 

his  birth,  170. 

anecdotes   of    his    youth, 

123. 
his    love   for   his   brother 
Charles  Burke,  and  his 
opinion    of    his    acting, 
160. 
his  debut,  17 1. 
juvenile  parts,  174. 
strolling  life,  175. 
first  appearance  as  a  man 

in  New  York,  177. 
first  marriage,  178,  194. 
in    the    East    and    South, 

179,  l83- 
his  rebuke  of  W.  R.  Blake, 

180. 
death  of  his  first  wife,  184, 
in  California,  184. 
in  Australia,  etc.,  184  et seq. 
his  London  debut,  189. 
European  professional  life, 

193-         .        . 
return  to  America,  190. 

second  marriage,  192,  196. 

list  of   characters,  197    et 

seq. 
as  Asa  Trenchard,  1S1. 
as  Rip   Van    Winkle,   rS6, 

189,    191,     201    et    seq., 

211. 
as  Bob  Acres,  209  et  seq. 
his  versatility,  197. 
his  originality-,  224,  226. 
his  children,  195,  196. 


INDEX. 


239 


Jefferson,    Mrs.    Joseph    (4th) 
(Mrs.  Lockyer,  his  1st  wife), 
mention,  178,  179,  19S. 
sketch  of,  194  et  seq. 
her  death,  184. 

Jefferson,  Mrs.  Joseph  (4th) 
(Miss  Sarah  Warren,  his  2d 
wife),  196. 

Jefferson,  Joseph,  son  of  Jeffer- 
son 4th,  196. 

Jefferson,  Joseph  Warren,  son 
of  Jefferson  4th,  ujG. 

Jefferson,  Josephine  1 hiff,  daugh- 
ter of  Jefferson  4th,  196. 

Jefferson,  Margaret  Jane  (Mrs. 
Farjeon),  daughter  of  Jef- 
ferson 4th,  195. 

Jefferson,  Mary  Anne  (Mrs. 
David  Ingersoll,  Mrs.  J.  S. 
Wright),  daughter  of  Jeffer- 
son 2d,  sketch,  96 ;  mention, 

12''. 

Jefferson,     Thomas    (Jefferson 
1st),  preface, 
his  birth,  3. 
his  youth,  4. 
his  meeting  with  Garrick, 

5.  7.  9.  "• 
his  debut,  5,  7,  9,  11.  . 

his  professional  associa- 
tion with  Garrick,  19, 
20,  219. 

his  early  professional  ca- 
reer, 10. 

management  of  the  Plym- 
outh   Theatre,    12,   31- 

,.33- 

his  long  career,  31. 

his  last  appearance,  34. 

his  death,  45. 

list  of  parts,  14-22. 

his   rank   as   an  actor,  13, 

14,  23,  219. 

his  private  character,  39, 

.41-  44- 
his    merry    temperament, 
35-38,  42. 


Jefferson,     Themas    (Jefferson 
1  st), 
his  contempoiaries,  48. 
his  influence  on  the  stage, 
220,  224. 
Jefferson,    Mrs.     Thomas    (1st) 
(Miss  May,  first  wife),  men- 
tion, 22,  23,  27,  29. 

sketch  of  her  life,  25-30. 
her  death,  28,  34. 
Jefferson,   Mrs.    Thomas    (ist), 
Miss      Wood,     second     (or 
third)    wife,   sketch    of    her 
life,    30. 
Jefferson    Thomas,  son   of  Jef- 
ferson 2d, 
sketch,  94. 
his  death,  98. 
mention,  96,  97,  153. 
Jefferson,     Thomas     (Jefferson 
5th),  son  of  Jefferson  4th. 
sketch,  196. 

mention,  preface,  214,218, 

218  note. 

Jefferson,     Thomas,     President 

of   the    United    States,   in, 

112,  113. 

Jefferson,  William  Winter,  son 

of  Jefferson  4th,  196. 
"Jenny  Lind,"  198. 
"  Jim  Crow,"  172. 
Joannes,  Count  (George  Jones), 

154- 
"  John  Bull,    92,  145,  198. 
"  John  Bull  in  Paris,"  83. 
"John  of  Paris,"  168. 
Johnson,  David,  77. 
Johnson,  John,  53. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  John,  53,  Si. 
Johnson,   Dr.  Samuel,  21,   23, 

40,  47,  93- 
Johnston,  T.  />.,  1S0,  1S3. 
John    Street    Theatre,   N.   V., 

52>  53,  55,  59,  62,  So,  81,  S3, 

114. 
"  Jonathan  Bradford,"  15S,  175, 

177- 


240 


INDEX. 


Jones,  George  (Count  Joannes), 

1 54- 

Jones,  Henry,  1 6. 

Jones,  Dr.  J.  S.,  157. 
Jones,  John,  1 31. 
Jones,  William,  "JJ. 
Jot/son,  Ben,  8,  20,  82. 
Jordan,  Dora,  48,  81. 
Jordan,  George,  179,  180,  183. 
Judson,  E.  C.  Z.  ("Ned  Bunt- 
line"),  158. 


Kean,  Charles,  preface. 

Kean,  Edmund,  223. 

Keene,  Laura,  169,  1  So,  182. 

Keif,  Mrs.,  23. 

Kelly,  Hugh,  19. 

Kelly,  Michael,  89. 

Kemble,  Charles,  91,  226. 

Kemble,  John  P.,  55,  125,  198. 

Kcmpe,  Wm.,  226. 

Kendal,  Eng.,  30. 

Kennedy,  John  P.,  77. 

Kennedy,  Mr.,  12. 

Kennedy,  Mrs.,  23. 

Kenney,   James,   89,    1 19  note, 

199. 
Kent,  Eng.,  8  note. 
Kerby,  Mr.  (Plymouth  theatre), 

32- 
Kerr,  Mr.,  187  note. 

"  Killing  No  Murder,"  90. 

Kilmarnock,  Earl  of,  10. 

Kilncr,  Mrs.  Thomas,  140. 

"'King  Arthur,"  16. 

•'  King  Lear,"  186,  198,  224. 

King  Thomas,  39,  47. 

Kir  by,  James  (clown),  75. 

Klett,  Mr.,  77. 

Kncller,  Godfrey,  223. 

Knight  Mrs.  E.  (Eliza  Povey), 

141. 
Knight,  T.,  8  note. 
"  Knight's  Adventure,"  90. 
"  Knights      of      the      Golden 

Fleece,"  135. 


Anowles,  Sheridan,  132, 134,157. 
"  Know  Your  Own  Mind,"  80. 
Kotzebue,  Augustus  F.  F.    Von, 

57,  58.  82,  83,  84)  85,  87,  88, 

145. 


Lacy,  John,  48  note,  93. 
"Lady  of  Lyons,"  135. 
"  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  i\\,  168. 
"Lady   of    the   Lions"    (Bur- 
lesque), 158. 
Lafolle,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Alexander 

Placide),  70. 
Lamb,   Charles,  124  note,  225, 

226. 
Lambeth  Palace,  16. 
Lancaster,  Pa.,  94, 121, 122, 141. 
Latham,  W.  H.,  131,  142. 
"Laugh  When  You  Can,"  84. 
Laura  Keene's  Theatre,  N.  Y., 

169,  180,  182,  183,  184,  200, 

20S,  211. 
Laura  Keene's  Varieties,  N.  Y., 

182. 
Leduc,  M.  (Opera  Bouffe),  160. 
Lee,  Nat,  20. 
Lee,  Sophia,  90. 

."Lend Me  Five  Shillings,"  198. 
L' Estrange,  Mr.,  66. 
"  Lethe,"  48  note. 
Levick,  A f lines,  181. 
Lcz'ick,  Mrs.  M 'lines,  182. 
Lewellen,  Mr.,  142. 
Lewes,  Eng.,  10,  25. 
Lervls,  Louis  A.,  185. 
Lezcis,  Mrs.  (Rosa  Dunn),  185. 
Lewis,  M.  G.,  84,  85,  86,  87. 
Lewis,  Philip,  10  note. 
Lewis,  William  T,  10  note,  89. 
"  Liar,  The,"  80. 
"  Liberal  Opinions,"  88. 
Lichfield,  Eng.,  20. 
Lichtenbeig  (German  critic),  20. 
"  Life,"  84. 
"Life     and     Death     of    Tom 

Thumb,"  83. 


INDEX. 


241 


Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  Theatre, 

16,  21. 
"  Linda,"  200. 
Li  11 11,  Rev.  John  Blair,  82. 
Lislon,  J.,  74,  125,  226. 
"  Loan  of  a  Lover,"  135. 
"Lock  and  Key,"  83  " 
Locke  "  Yankee?  17S. 
Lockyer,  Margaret  Clement.  See 

Mrs.  Joseph  Jefferson  4th. 
London,  3  note,  4,  5,  8  note,  9 

10,  11,  12,  17,  27,  32  note,  33 

note,  40,   57,  63,  76,  78,  91, 

180,  186,  187  note,  188,  189, 

195,  196,  2ii,  214. 
"  London  Assurance,"  133. 
"  London  Hermit,"  81. 
Longfellow,  If.  IV.,  183. 
Lostwithiel,  Eng.,  36. 
"  Lottery,"  86. 
"  Lottery  Ticket,"  173. 
UOuverture  Tonssaint,  166. 
Lovat,  Lord,  9,  10. 
"  Love  Chase,"  135. 
"  Love  Makes  a  Man,"  82. 
"  Lovers'  Quarrels,"  64. 
"  Lovers'  Vows,"  82. 
"  Love's  Contrivance,"  92. 
Lorain,  John,  226. 
"Lucille,"  199. 
Ludlow,  Cornelia  Burke  (Mrs. 

M.  C.  Field),  168. 
Ludlow,  A".  M.,  preface,  71,  74, 

95-  97-  9s.  '47  »ote,  155,  175, 

1S7  note,  188. 
L  udlou  1  and  Sin  it/i ,  172. 
Lussant,  Mine.,  24. 
"  Lying  Valet,"  ^>  note. 


"Macbeth,"  94,  139,  145,  197. 

Macklin,  Charles,  12,  14,23,39, 

47.  78- 

lin,  Miss  Maria,  24. 
M  Li  on,  Ga.,  179,  195. 
Macready,   William   C,  73,  76, 

158,  220. 


Maddox,  Mr.  (wire-dancer),  43, 

44. 
Madison,  President,  113. 
Maeder,  Mrs.  See  Clara  Fisher. 
Magnolia    Cemetery,    Mobile, 

147. 
Maguire's  Opera  House,   San 

Francisco,  184. 
Mahon,  Mr.,  23. 
Maliou,  Mrs.,  23. 
"Maid  of  the  Oaks,"  86. 
"  Male  Coquette,"  16. 
Mallet,  David,  19,  27,  28. 
Manchester,  Eng.,  59. 
"  Man  of  Fortitude,"  So,  90. 
"Man  of  the  Mill,"  22. 
"  Man  of  Ten  Thousand,"  81. 
Mansfield,  Chief  Justice  W.  M., 

47- 
Marble,    Mrs.   Danford.       See 

Anne  Warren. 
Margaret,  Queen  (of  Henry  IV. 

of  England),  81. 
"  Married  Life,"  135,  145. 
"Married  Lovers,"  135. 
Marshall,  E.  A.,  155  note. 
Marshall,  Mr.,  1 24  note. 
Marshall,     Mrs.        See    Mrs. 

Wilmot. 
Marshall,  Mrs.  G.  (Mrs.  P.  M. 

Clark  ).    See  Miss  Harding. 
Marshall,  Wyzeman,  178. 
Martin,  John,  57,  61. 
Mason,  j.  A'.,  131. 

!,    Mrs.    (Mrs.     Crooke, 

Mrs.  Entwistle),  140. 
Massinger,  Philip,  87. 
Mathews,  Charles  (Elder),  90. 
Mathews,    Charles    (Younger), 

209,  226. 
Math  melius,  158. 

"  Mil:       I   ilconi,"  174. 
Mattocks,  George,  45  note. 
"Mi  1 99. 

Mazzinghi,  Joseph,  S8. 

I/.-  r.     See  Mrs.  Thomas 

Jefferson  1st. 


242 


INDEX. 


Me  Dona! I,  Henry,  182. 
McKee,  Thomas  J.,  preface. 
McJCenzie,  Alexander,    96,    97, 

142,  147,  154. 
Ale  A  'enzie,  Mrs.  Alexander.  See 

Hester  Jefferson. 
McNally,  Leonard,  88.     ■ 
McVicker,  J.  H.,  178. 
McVicker's   Theatre,  Chicago, 

191.  195. 
Meadows,    Driiikwater,    sketch 

of,  3  note  ;  mention,  34,  46. 
Meer,  Mr.,  77. 
Meer,  Mrs.,  77. 
Melbourne,  Australia,  185. 
Melbourne,  Mr.,  66. 
Mel  moth,  Mrs.,  61. 
Mendelssohn,  161. 
"  Merchant  of  Venice,"  22,  84, 

145- 
"  Merry  Girl,"  79. 

Merry,  Robert,  1 1  note,  64,  65. 

Merry,     Mrs.     Robert      (Anne 

Brunton),  63-66,  68. 

"Merry  Wives   of   Windsor," 

92,  97,  197- 
Mestayer,  Mr.  (Elder),  66. 
Mestayer,  Emily,  178. 
Mestayer,  Mrs.  Chas.   See  Mrs. 

Barney  Williams. 
"  Metamora,"  140. 
"  Metamoras,"  177. 
Metropolitan    Theatre,    N.  Y., 

182. 
Mexico,  177. 
"  Midas,"  199. 
"  Midnight  Hour,"  79. 
"  Midsummer  Night's  Dream," 

169,  191. 
Miller,  John  D.,  54,  55. 
Mills,  Mr.,  104. 
"  Minister,  The,"  86. 
"  Miss  in  Her  Teens,"  61,  91. 
Mitchell,  Wm.,  178. 
Mitre  Tavern,  London,  93. 
"Mobb,  the  Outlaw"  (Robert 

Macaire)  141. 


Mobile  Theatre,  133,  146.  147, 

156. 
"  Mock  Doctor,"  92,  93. 
Moliere,  15,  18,  92,  94. 
Moncrief,  Wm.  T,  157. 
Monroe,  James,  President,  113. 
Monvel,  Mr.,  85. 
Moody,  John,  27,  47. 
Moore,  Edward,  16. 
Moore,  Thomas,  74  note. 
Morel  and,  H.  G.,  140. 
Morris,  Ozuen,  66. 
Morris,  Airs.  Owen,  66. 
Morton,  Thomas,  81-S3,  90,  91, 

96,  100,  147,  197,  199. 
Mossop,  Henry,   12-14,   23>   39, 

42,  43,  47- 
"Mother  and  Child,"  199. 
"  Mountaineers,"  54,  80. 
Mountfort,  Wm.,  226. 
Mount  Vernon  Gardens,  New 

York,  61. 
"  Much  Ado  About  Nothing," 

17,  21,  54  82,  145,  185,  197. 
Minnlen,  Mrs.    See  Mrs.  Hodg- 

kinson. 
Munden,  Joseph  S.,  59,  225,  226. 
Munden,  Mrs.  J.  S.,  59. 
Murcoyne,  JMargarct.    See  Mrs. 

Chas.  Burke. 
Murphy,  Arthur,  15,  21,  80,  90, 

101. 
Murray,  Chas.,  18. 
Murray,  Mr.,  77. 
Murray,  Mrs.,  "jj. 
"Murrell    the    Land    Pirate," 

156,  1 58. 
Musical  Fund  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia, 133. 
Muzzy,  Mrs.  Chas.  E.,  178. 
"My  Grandmother,"  81. 
"My  Neighbor's  Wife,"  199. 
"  My  SonDiana,"  200. 
"  Mysteries    and    Miseries    of 

New  York,"  158. 
"Mysteries  of  the  Castle,"  85. 
"  My  Wife's  Mother,"  135. 


INDEX. 


243 


Nashville,  Term.,  96,  98. 
National  Theatre,  New  York, 

154,  169,   175,  177-179.  195. 

200. 
"  Natural  Daughter,"  82. 
Neagle,  John-;  preface,  S  note. 
Nieal,  Joseph,  96. 
Neilson,  Adelaide,  preface. 
Nelson,  Lord,  8  note. 
"  New  Brooms,"  37  note. 
New  Iberia,  La.,  192. 
New  National  Theatre,  N.  Y. 

(Chatham),  154. 
New  Orleans,  La.,  74,  168. 
New  Theatre,  N.  Y.  (Park),  55. 
"  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts," 

87,  145. 

New  York,  33  note,  53-55,  63, 
67,  71-74  note,  113,  115,  117, 

I33>  HO,  154,  i56.  l6>  l67- 
169,  171,  178,  190,  196,  214. 

"  Next  Door  Neighbor,"  82. 

Nexsen,  Gilbert,  131. 

Niblo's  Garden  Theatre,  N.  Y., 
141,  179. 

"Nicholas    Nicklcby"    (play), 

'35- 
"  Nick  of  the  Woods,"  178. 
Noah,  Major  M.  M.,  145. 
Nokes,  Robert,  226. 
"Non-juror,"  15,  88. 
North  American  Coffee  House, 

London,  76. 
"  No  Song  No  Supper,"  199. 
"Note  of  Hand,"  20. 
Noz'ello,  Miss,  188. 
Nuskay,  Anne.    See  Mrs.  John 

Greene. 

O'Brien,  Fitz-Tamks,  200. 
"  Octoroon,"  1S2,  199. 
"  Of  Age  to-morrow,"  135. 
O'/dara,  Kane,  Si,  179. 
O'A'ecfe,  John,  79,  81,    83,  87, 

88,  92,  116  note,  15S,  195. 

"  Old  Bachelor,"  22,  24,  27,  28. 
Oldjield,  Mrs.,  18. 


"  Old  Heads  and  Young 
Hearts,"  198. 

Oldmixon,  Mrs.,  55,  58,  66. 

"Old  Phil's  Birthday,"  200. 

■"OleBull,"  154,  157. 

Oliff,  Win.,  prompter,  140. 

Ol iff,  Miss,  140. 

"Oliver  Twist"  (Play),  135, 
182. 

Olympic  Theatre,  N.  Y.  (Mitch- 
ell's), 179. 

Olympic  Theatre,  N.  Y.  (Lau- 
ra "Keene's),  169,  180,  190, 
191,  200. 

"Othello,"  197. 

"Othello"  (Travestie),  158. 

Otway,  Thomas,  145. 

"  Our  American  Cousin,"  181, 
184,  185,  200,  211. 

"Our  Japanese  Embassy,"  183. 

"  Ours,"  200. 

Owens,  John  E.,  225. 

Oxenford,  John,  190. 

Oxford,  Eng.,  51S. 

"  Paddy  the  Piper,"  200. 

Palmer,  John,  16,  47. 

Palmer,  Robert,  24. 

Palo  Alto,  177. 

Parepa,  Rosa,  144. 

Paris,  France,  180,  196. 

"Parish  Clerk,"  198. 

Park  Theatre,  New  York,  8 
note,  13,  31,  33  note,  48  note, 
55.  57,  58-  6l»  63>  64>  82,  S6, 
88,  95,  96,  f  30- 1 34,  140,  158, 
167,  171,  186,  187,  note. 

Parker,  Mr.,  77. 

Parsons,  Charles  B.,  187. 

/'arsons,   William,  47. 
^Parsons,  Mrs.  William,  23. 
■e,  C.  E.,  190. 

"  Paul  and  Virginia"  (Opera), 
88,  98. 

Paul,  Eugenia  (wife  of  Jeffer- 
son 5th),  218  note. 

"Paul  Pry,"  73,  158. 


244 


INDEX. 


Payne,  John  Howard,  92. 

Pearso7i,  Harry,  183. 

Pelby,  Julia,  178. 

Pellisier,  Victor  (composer),  82. 

Pendleton,  Mark,  21S  note. 

"People's  Lawyer,"  157. 

Petersburg,  Va.,  97. 

Peters,  Charles,    180,  181. 

"Pet  of  the  Petticoats,"  135. 

Phelps,  H.  P.,  preface,  64  note. 

Phoenix  Theatre,  Dublin,  87. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  32  note,  56 
note,  57,  59,  63,  67,  68,  70, 
71,  76,  91,  95,  96-98,  100- 
102,  104,  107,  no,  115,  117, 
121,  122,  124  note,  129,  131 
note,  133,  139,  140,  149  note, 
153,  167,  168,  170,  179. 

Pilgrim,  James,  200. 

Pillow,  Frank,  71,  91. 

Pitt,  CD.,  1 78. 

Pitt,  Mrs.  (Exeter  Theatre),  12. 

Pittsburg,  Pa.,  172. 

"  Pizarro,"  84,  145,  199. 

Placide,  Alexandre,  166. 

Placide,  Mrs.  Alexandre.  See 
Mrs.  Lafolle. 

Placide,    Caroline   (Mrs.   War- 
ing), 140,  166. 

Placide,  Eliza,  98,  166. 

Placide,  Henry,  131,  166,  226. 

Placide,  Jane,  166. 

Placide,  Thomas,  131,  166. 

Plant  us,  Titus  Mace  ins,  18. 
Plymouth   Theatre,  preface,  8 
note,   10,    12,    19,   27,  31-36, 

45.  47,  51- 
Pluminer,  Mr.  Cramer,  142. 

Pocock,  Isaac,  125. 

Poole,  John,  158. 

"  Poor    Gentleman,"   87,    145, 

197. 
"  Poor  Pillicoddy,"  199. 
"Poor  Soldier,"  158,    178,  195 

note. 
"  Poor  Vulcan,"  79. 
Porter,  Anna  Maria,  89. 


Porter,  Charles  S.,  77. 
Portsmouth,  Eng.,  32  note. 
Pottsville,  Pa.,  122. 
Povey,    Eliza.       See    Mrs.    E. 

Knight. 
Povey,  John,  132. 
Powell,  C.S-,$i,  52,63,  i24note. 
Powell,    Snelling,    61,    63,    124 

note. 
Powell,    Mrs.    Snelling    (Miss 

Harrison),  6r. 
Powell,  William,  13  note,  47. 
Pcrwer,  Tyrojie,  134. 
Pray,  Miss.     See  Mrs.  Barney 

Williams. 
Price,    Mrs.    (Emma    Warren, 

Mrs.  Hanchett),  56  note. 
Price,  Stephen,  8  note. 
"  Pride  of  the  Market,"  1 58. 
Prigmore,  Mr.,  34. 
Princess's  Theatre,  London,  3 

note,  93,  193. 
"  Prisoner,"  81. 
Pritchard,    Mrs.   Hannah,    23, 

24.  39- 
"  Prize,"  91. 
Proctor,  Joseph,  178. 
Proctor,  Mrs.  (Hester  Warren, 

Mrs.  Willis),  56  note. 
"  Promotion,"  145. 
"  Provoked  Husband,"  53,  79. 
"Provoked  Wife,"  21. 
Pynn,  Eng.,  32. 

"  Quarter  of  an  Hour  be- 
fore Dinner,"  83. 

Quin,  James,  21,  39  note,  220, 
226. 

Rabelais,  225. 

Rachel,  Mile.,  22. 

Radclife,  Mrs.  Ann,  86. 

"  Raising   the   Wind,"  89,  140, 

199. 
Rand,  Rosa,  214. 
Raymond,  John  T.,  226. 
Reade,  Charles,  200. 


INDEX. 


245 


"Recruiting  Officer,"  21. 
Reddish,  Samuel,   13  note,   16, 

19.  23>  47. 
his  death,  29. 
^v</,  David,  149  note. 
/?iV.f,  James,  preface. 
Reeve,  John,  18S,  226. 
Reeve,  Wm.  (composer),  88. 
"  Rehearsal,"  16. 
Reinagle,  the  Elder  (manager), 

65. 
"  Relapse,"  88. 
"  Rendezvous,"  199. 
"  Reprisal,"  15. 
"  Retaliation,"  88. 
Reuling,  Doctor,  192. 
"  Revenge,"  22. 
"  Review,"  89,  198. 
"  Revolution,"  158. 
Reynolds,  Frederick,  59,  81-84, 

87,  89,  90,  143  note. 
Reynolds,  Sir  'Joshua,  47. 
Rice,  J.  B.,  56  note. 
Rice,  Mrs.  J.  B.     See   Mary 

Ann  Warren. 
Rice,  Thomas  /).  ("Jim  Crow,") 

123,  178;  sketch  of,  171  et  sea. 
Rice,  Mrs.    Thomas  D.   (Miss 

Glads  tane),  173. 
Rich,  John,  1 1. 

"  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,"  87. 
"  Richard  III."  22, 145, 154,  197. 
Richards,    Mr.     (Sir     Richard 

Crosby),  61. 
Richardson,  Augustus,  132. 
Richardson,  Mrs.     See   Eliza- 
beth Jefferson. 
Richings,  Peter,    131,  158. 
Richmond   Hill  Theatre,  New 

York,  1X7  note. 
Richmond   Theatre,    England, 

10,  30,  41,  67. 
Ringgold,  Major  Samuel,  177. 
Ripon,  Eng.,  3,  5  note,  6,9,  30, 

34.  45- 
"Rip  Van  Winkle,"  Bernard's, 

33  ,lote- 


"  Rip  Van  Winkle," 

Charles  Burke's,  157,  159. 
Boucicault's,  196,  197. 
Jefferson  in  the  part,  pref- 
ace, 201  et  sea. 
origin  of  the  play,  iS6etsea. 

Ristori,  Adelaide,  preface. 

"  Rival  Oueens,"  22. 

"  Rivals,"  56  note,  90,  92,  194, 
196,  197,  209  et  sea.,  218  note. 

"  Rival  Soldiers,"  92. 

Roach,  Mrs.,  23. 

"  Road  to  Ruin,"  So,  198. 

"  Robbery,"  85. 

"  Robert  Macaire,"  141,  198. 

Robertson,  Thomas,  191,  200. 

Robertson,  W.,  140. 

Robinson,   Frederick,   213,    217, 
218  note 

Robinson,  Henry  C,  17. 

Rogers,  judge,  107. 

"  Roland   for   an  Oliver,"  70, 
89,  199. 

"  Roman  leather,"  22. 

"Romeo and  Juliet,"  16,89,197. 

Romer,  Mrs.,  75. 

Ronaldson's  Cemetery,  Phila- 
delphia, 156,  170. 

Rose,  Rev.  John,  Sr,  83. 

"  Rosina,  or  the  Reapers,"  79, 
[68. 

"  Rough  Sergeant,"  17. 
/•'.,  [85. 

Row  .  Nicholas,  19,  21. 
>u,  Susanna,  85. 

"  Royal   Slave,"  iS. 

Russell,  Richard,  97,  132. 

Russell,  Mrs.  Richard,  97. 

Ryan,  Redmond,  177. 

Ryder,  Mr.,  23. 

,    Samuel    William,    pref- 
ace, 37  note. 

s  mm  ers  Wei  ls  Theatre,74. 
Salvini,  Tbtnmaso,  preface. 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  1S4. 
Saratoga,  N.  V.,  S6. 


246 


INDEX. 


Sarony,  N.,  preface. 
Saunders,  Mrs.     See  Elizabeth 

Anderson. 
Savannah,  Geo.,  179. 
Schiller,  86,  87. 
Sc holes,  Mr.,  98. 
"  School  for  Arrogance,"  82. 
"  School  for  Grown  Children," 

100. 
"School  for  Prejudice,"  88. 
"School  for  Scandal,"  17,  37, 

69,87,104,  122,  145,  199,212. 
"  School  for  Soldiers,"  85. 
Scott,  John  K.,  178. 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  41. 
"  Scrap  of  Paper,"  196. 
"  Secret  Service,"  135. 
"  Secrets  Worth  Knowing,"  82. 
Sedley,  William  H.  S.    (W.  H. 

Smith),  226. 
Seebach,  Marie,  preface. 
Sefton,  John,  141,  142,  155. 
Sefton,  Mrs.     See  Mrs.  Watts. 
Sefton,  William,  174. 
"  Self-immolation,"  85. 
Sehvyn,  George,  47. 
"  Sentinel,"  145. 
Setchell,  Daniel  E.,  220,  225. 
Sevier,  J.  G.,  74  note. 
Seymour,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Bloxton), 

57,  58- 
Shadwell,  Charles,  19. 
Shakespeare,  16,  20-22,  29,  60, 

80-85,  88,  89,  92,  124  note, 

125,  127,  145,  163,  186,  196- 

198,  203. 
"  Shamrock,"  185  note. 
Shaw,  Mrs.,  66. 
Sheffield,  Eng.,  72. 
Shelley,  Percy  By s she,  41. 
Sheridan,   Richard  B.,  11,    13, 

14,  16,  40,  48  note,  57,  81,  86- 

88,  90,  212,  215. 
Sheridan,    Thomas,    11,    23,  43 

note. 
"She  Stoops  to  Conquer,"  27, 

86,  198. 


"  She  Would  and  She  Would 
Not,"  68,  89. 

"  Shipwreck,"  90. 

Shirley,  James,  16,  21. 

Shrewsbury,  Eng.,  21. 

Shuter,  Edward,  27,  39. 

Siddous,  Mrs.,  16,  18,  48  64, 
225. 

"Siege  of  Belgrade,"  Si. 

Si)iipson,  Alexander,  140. 

Simpson,  Edmund,  134. 

Sinclair,  John,  133. 

Singleton,  Mr.,  77. 

"Slander,"  157. 

"Slasher  and  Crasher,"  199. 

Sloman,  yohn,  100,  118,  119. 

Sloman,  Mrs.  John,  118. 

Smith,  Alexander,  208. 

Smith,  James,  of  Melbourne, 
his  reflections  on  the  Char- 
acter of  Jefferson  1st,  46, 
mention,  185. 

Smith,  Mark,  226. 

Smith,  0.,  188. 

Smith,  Sol.  (Elder),  preface, 
70,  85,  154. 

Smith,  William  Henry.  See 
W.  H.  S.  Sedley. 

Smock  Alley  Theatre,  11. 

Smollett,  Tobias,  15,  37  note. 

Sucnaden,  Mrs.,  66. 

"  Soldier's  Daughter,"  89,  140. 

Solomon,  Mrs.,  66. 

"  Somebody  Else,"  200. 

Somerville,  Air.,  140. 

Sothern,  E.  A.,  1S0,  181,  184, 
191,  226. 

Sothern,  Mrs.  E.  A.,  181. 

Southerne,  Thomas,  15. 

Sozvdeu,  Mr.,  12,  23. 

"  Spanish  Barber,"  80, 1 29 note, 
130. 

"  Spanish  Castle,"  84. 
Spanish  Theatre,  Mexico,  177. 

Sparks,  Luke,  23. 
"Spectre     Bridegroom,"    154, 
157,  195.  IQ7-  " 


IXDEX. 


247 


"Speculation,"  81. 

"  Speed  the  Plough,"  83,  169. 

SpUler,  Mrs.,  140. 

"  Spitfire,"  197. 

"  Spoiled  Child,"  79,  169. 

"  Sprigs  of  Laurel,"  92. 

St.  Charles  Theatre,  N.  O.,  9, 
112,  134,  146. 

St.  Clair,  General,  107  note. 

St.  James  Church, Piccadilly,  1 7. 

St.  John's,  N.  F.,  113. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  96. 

St.  Margaret's  Church,  West- 
minster, 46  note. 

St.  Paul's  Church,  N.  Y.,  56. 
Steele,  Sir  Richard,  25,  225. 
Stephens,  A  dine,  214. 
Stephens,  Mrs.  (Elizabeth  Taft), 

179,  180. 
Sterne,  Laurence,  225. 
"  Sterne's    Maria,"  58,82. 
Stevens,  Sara,  180,  182. 
"Steward,"  62,  79. 
Stnvart,  Mrs.  Alexander  (Mary 

Vos),  147. 
Stoddart,  j.  H.,  180,  183,  184. 
Stoddart,  Mrs.    J.    If.       (Mrs. 

Conover),  179. 
Stone,  "John  A.,  140. 
Storace,  Stephen,  81,  198. 
Storer,  Ann  (Mrs.  Hogg),  61. 
"  Stranger,"  23,  57,  5S,  77,  82, 

197. 
"  Stranger's  Birthday,"  84. 
Stratford-on-Avon,  196. 
Stuart,  William,  182. 
Suctt,  Richard,  55,  226. 

Sketch  of,  124  note. 
"Surrender  of  Calais,"  53,  79. 
Surrey  Theatre,  Eng.,  75. 
"  Suspicious  Husband,'  S2. 
Sutherland,     /one.      See      lone 

Burke. 
Sutherland.     Mrs.       See    Mrs. 
( 'harks  Burke. 

"  Sun!  hell  !  3  .111(1  Wives,"  I45. 

Symons,  Dan,  185. 


Taft,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Ste- 
phens), 179,  180. 
"Tale  of  Mystery,"  61,  88. 
"  Tamanthes,"  21. 
"Taming   of   the  Shrew,"  16, 

157- 
"  Tancred  and  Sigismunda,"  22. 
"Tartuffe,"  15. 
Taylor,  Bayard,  186. 
Taylor,  Gen.  Zachary,  177. 
Taylor,  H.  F.,  214,  218  note. 
Taylor,  John,  preface,  17,  27, 

29,  46  note,  163. 
Taylor,  Mary,  I  58. 
Taylor,  Thorn  as,  20,181,1 98-200. 
Telbin,  Wtn.,  191. 
Telbin,  Miss.    See  Mrs.  Gurner. 
"  Telegraph,"  82. 
"Tekeli,"  87,  149  note. 
"Tell  Truth   and    Shame    the 

Devil,"  81. 
"Tempest,"  53  note,  85,  125. 
Temple,  London,  93. 
Terry,  Daniel,  91. 
Thackeray,  William  M.,  15,  225. 
Thayer,  Edward,  142. 
Theatres  : 

Adelphi,  London,  1S8,  189, 
197. 

Arch    Street,    Phila.,    125, 
188,  194,  196,  199. 

Astor  Place  Opera  House, 
N.  Y.,  8  note. 

Baltimore  Museum,  179. 

Bath,  59. 

Beverly,  30 

Booth's,  N.  Y.,  192,  193. 

Boston    (Federal    Street), 
53  note. 

Boston  Museum,  125. 

Bowery,   X.  Y.,  31,  52*96, 

I25>    '39.    155-    '5s.    187 
note,  194. 

Broadway,  V  V.,  155  note. 
Brooklyn  Museum,  162. 
Brougham's    Lvceum,    N. 
Y.,  179. 


248 


INDEX. 


Theatres  : 

Burton's,  N.  Y.,  154. 

Chatham  Garden,  N.  Y., 
64,  73,  140,  146. 

Chestnut  Street,  Phila., 
preface,  13,  33  note,  56 
note,  61,   63-65,  6S-71, 

76,  77-  89,  91.  95-  96.  99. 
101,  10S,  118,  120,  122, 
124  note,  129,  131,  139, 
148,  153,  155. 

Commonwealth,  N.  Y.,  39 
note. 

Covent  Garden,  London, 
3  note,  7,  8  note,  n,  15, 
18,  20,  22,  32  note,  33, 
45  note,  46  note,  59,  62 
note,  64,  73,  79-92,  1 16 
note,  125,  143  note,  158, 
197-199. 

Crow   Street,   Dublin,   12, 

43- 

Dorset  Gardens,  125. 

Drury  Lane,  London,  7,  8 
note,  10,  11-12,  14-16, 
18-25,  27,  28,  34,  39,  41 
note,  46,  48  note,  55,  57, 

73.  74,  79,  8°-82>  84- 
90,  92,  101, 124  note,  157, 
198. 

Eagle,  Buffalo,  125. 

Exeter,  10, 12,29,32,42,  74. 
.  Federal  Street,  Boston,  53 
note. 

Fifth  Avenue,  N.  Y.,  194. 

Ford's,  Baltimore,  193,  214. 

Fourteenth  St.,  N.  Y.,  160. 

Franklin,  N.  Y.,  95,  141, 
174. 

Globe,  Boston,  90. 
"  Goodman's    Fields,    Lon- 
don, 11,  48  note. 

Grand  Opera  House,  N. 
Y.,  194. 

Harrowgate,  30. 

Haymarket,  London,  ic, 
17,  19,  41  note,  71,79-83, 


Theatres  : 

85,  86,  89,  90,  96,  125, 

129  note,  191,  193,  198, 

199,  214. 
HollidayStreet,  Baltimore, 

179. 
Howard  Athenaeum,  Bos- 
ton, 56  note,  125. 
John  Street,  N.  Y.,  52,  53, 

55,   59,  62,   80,   81,    83, 

114. 
Laura  Keene's,  N.  Y.,  169, 

180,    182-184,    200,   208, 

211. 
Laura  Keene's  Varieties, 

N.Y.,  182. 
Lincoln's  Inn   Fields,  16, 

21. 
Lyrique,  Paris,  93. 
Maguire's   Opera   House, 

San  Francisco,  184. 
McVicker's,  Chicago,  191, 

195. 
Metropolitan,  N.  Y.,  182. 
Mobile,  133,  146,  147,  I56- 
Mount    Vernon    Gardens, 

61. 
National,  N.  Y.,  154,  169, 

175,  177-179.  x95.  2°°- 

New      National,      N.    Y. 

(Chatham),  154. 

New,  N.  Y.  (Park),  55. 

Niblo's,  N.  Y.,  141,  179. 

Olympic,  N.  Y.  (Mitch- 
ell's), 179. 

Olympic,  N.  Y.  (Laura 
Keene's  Theatre),  169, 
180,  190,  191,  200. 

Park,  N.  Y.,  8  note,  13,  31, 
33  note,  48  note,  55,  57, 
58,  61,  63,  64,  82,  86,  88, 

9S.96.  U0"1 34.  HO,  158. 

167,  171,  186,  187  note. 
Phoenix,  Dublin,  87. 
Plymouth,    Eng.,   preface, 

8  note,  10,  12, 19,27,  31- 

36.  45.47.  51- 


INDEX. 


249 


Theatres  : 

Princess's,  London,  3  note, 

93-  193- 

Richmond,  Eng.,  10,  30,  41, 

67. 
Richmond  Hill,  N.  Y.,  187 

note. 
Royal,  Dublin,  42,  43  note. 
Royal,    London,     16,    iS, 

20—22. 
Sadlers  Wells,  London,  74. 
Smock  Alley,  London,  11. 
Spanish,  Metamoras,  Mex- 
ico, 177. 
St.  Charles,  N.  O.,  9,  112, 

134,  146. 
Surrey,  London,  75. 
Thespian   Hotel,  Albany, 

64. 
Tripler  Hall,  N.  Y.,  1S2. 
Troy  Museum,  194. 
Union  Scpjare,  N.  Y.,  218 

note. 
Varieties,  N.  O.,  191. 
Wallack's,  N.  Y.,  99,  191, 

196. 
Walnut  Street,  Phila.,  95, 

121,  122,  1S7  note. 
Washington,  149  note,  171, 

!73- 
Winter    Garden,     N.    Y., 
182-184,  197,  200. 
Theatre  Lyrique,  Paris,  93. 
Theatre  Royal,  Dublin,  42,  43 

note. 
Theatre  Royal,  London,  16, 18, 

20—22. 
Theatrical    Fund,    London,   45 

note. 
Thespian  Hotel,  Albany,  64. 
Thillon,  Anna,  179. 
T/ioman,  Jacob,  95,  142. 
TAoman,  Mrs.     See  Elizabeth 

Anderson. 
Thomas,  Mons.,  165-167,  170. 
Thompson,  (',//•/.  /  .  19. 

'Thompson,  Charlotte,  180. 


Thomson,  James,  22,  39  note. 

Thome,  James,  147. 

"  Three  and  the  Deuce,"  S6. 

"  Three     Weeks     after     Mar- 
riage," 90,  104. 

"  Ticket-of- Leave    Man,"    18?, 
198. 

Tilden,  Miss  (Mrs.  Chas.  Ber- 
nard), 98. 

Tilghman,  Judge,  107  note. 

Tilt  Yard  Coffee  House,  9,  10. 

Timm,  Mrs.  H.  C,  195. 

Titus,  A /aster,  174. 

Tobin,  John,  89. 

"Tom    Noddy's   Secret,"   135, 
145. 

"Tom  Thumb,"  141,  145. 

"  Toothache,"  94. 

Torquay,  8  note. 

Torr  Abbey,  37. 

Tostee,  Mile.,  161. 

Tower  of  London,  10. 

"  Town  and  Country,"  90. 

"Toy,"  87. 

"  Tragedy  a-la-Mode,"  42. 

Tripler  Hall,  N.  Y.,  182. 

Troy  Museum,  194. 

Turnbull,  The  Misses,  132. 

Turner,  Cyril,  200. 

"  Turnpike  Gate,"  8  note. 

Twails,  Wm.,  65. 

Sketch  of,  66,  67. 

Twaits,      Mrs.       Wm.      (Eliza 
Westray,  Mrs.  Villiers),  6-. 

"  Twelfth  Night,"  21. 

"Twin  Rivals,"  [6. 

"Two  Misers,"  Si. 

"  Tycoon,"  1S3,  200. 

Tyler,  Joseph,  53. 

Tyler,     Mrs.     Joseph,     53,     58, 
61. 


"Unequal  Match,"  200. 
Union   Square  Theatre,  \.  X ., 

21S  note. 
Usher,  Luke,  66. 


250 


INDEX. 


"Valentine and  Orson," 97. 

Vanbmgh,  Sir  John,  21. 

Varieties  Theatre,  N.  O.,  191. 

Varney  Mr.,  24. 

Varrey,  Edwin,  181. 

"  Venice  Preserved,"  145. 

Vernon,  Air.,  12. 

"  Victims,"  199. 

"  Village  Lawyer,"  87,  199. 

Villiers,  Mrs.  (Eliza  Westray). 

See  Mrs.  Wm.  Twaits. 
Vincent,  Mrs.  H,  1S4. 
"Virginia  Mummy,"  173. 
Virginia    Water,    Windsor,   4, 

3°- 
"Virgin  of  the  Sun,"  84. 

Voltaire,  34. 

"  Votary  of  Wealth,"  88. 


Walcot,  Charles,  180.    . 
"  Walder,  the  Avenger,"  31. 
Walker,  T/ios.,  12,  23. 
Wallack,  Henry,  70,  72,  140. 
JVallack,  Mrs.  Henry,  70,  140. 
Wallack,  Jos.   W.   (Eider),  7^ 

132. 
Wallack,  J.  W.  (Younger),  142, 

183. 
Wallack,  Lester,  179,  191,  225. 
Wallack's    Theatre,    99,    191, 

196. 
Walnut  Street  Theatre,  Phila., 

95,  121,  122,  187  note. 
Walpole,  Horace,  47. 
Walstein,  Mrs.,  140. 
Walton,  Izaak,  102  note. 
"Wandering  Boys,"  145. 
"  Wandering  Jew,"  85. 
Waring,   Mrs.      See   Caroline 

Placide. 
Warren,  Mr.,  66. 
Warren,  Anne  (Mrs.  Danford 

Marble),  56  note. 
Warren,    Emma.    (Mrs.    Price, 

Mrs.  Hanchett),  56  note. 
Warren,  Henry,  196. 


Warren,  Hester  (Mrs.  Willis, 
Mrs.  Proctor),  56  note,  129, 
130,  184 

Warren,  Mary  Ann  (Mrs.  John 
B.  Rice),  56  note. 

Warren,  Mrs.  (Miss  Brunton, 
Mrs.  Merry,  Mrs.  Wignell), 
63-66,  68.  ' 

Warren,  Sarah  (Mrs.  Joseph 
Jefferson  4th),  196. 

Warren,  Wm.  (Elder),  sketch 
of,  56  note ;  mention,  65, 
66,  68-72,  77,  97,  99,  100, 
102  note,  103,  104,  108,  118 
note,  119,  120,  124  note,  129, 
226. 

Warren,  Mrs.  Wm.  (Esther 
Fortune),  56. 

Warren,  Wm.  (Younger), 
sketch,  56  note ;  mention, 
dedication,     124,     125,    155, 

173-  !93>  J96- 
Washington   City,  D.    C,   59, 

68   note,  95,    102,   104,    121, 

122,  134,  140,  143. 
Washington,   George,  40,   1 13, 

124  note,  195  note. 
Washington  Theatre,  149  note, 

171.  173- 
"  Waterman,"  199. 
Watkins,  Harry,  178. 
Watts,  Mrs.   (Mrs.  John    Sef- 

ton),  141. 
Waver  ley,    Charles,    214,    218 

note. 
"  Way  of  the  World,"  16,  28. 
"  Way  to  Get  Married,"  82. 
"  Way    to    Keep     Him,"    20, 

101. 
"  Weathercock,"  90. 
Webb,   Mrs.      See   Mrs.    Wil- 

mot. 
Webb,  Benjamin  (The  Enigma 

Writer),  93. 
Webster,  Benjamin,  2.2.6. 
Wells,  Mary,  180,  182. 
"  Welsh  Girl,"  91,  141. 


INDEX. 


251 


Wcmyss,  F.  C,  preface,  S  note, 
30,  67,  6S,  70,  77,  100,  106, 
118-121,  124  note,  129,  130, 
172. 

West,  J.,  98. 

West,  Mr.  (vocalist),  36. 

"  West  Indian,"  8  note,  57,  59, 

81. 

Westminster    Abbey,    40,    46 

note. 
Westminster  Hall,  40. 
Weston,  Tom,- 15,  39,  41,  90. 
Westray,  Eliza  (Mrs.   William 

Twaits,  Mrs.  Villiers),  67. 
Westray,     Ellen.       See     Mrs. 

John  Darley. 
Westray,    Juliana.      See   Mrs. 

William  Wood. 
Wheatleigh,  Charles,  179,  180. 
Wheatley,  Frederick,  77,  99. 
Whealley,  William,  131. 
Wheatley,  Mrs.  William,  132. 
"  Wheel  of  Fortune,"  55,  79. 
"  Wheel  of  Truth,"  88. 
"  Where  is  He? "87. 
"Which  is  the  Man?  "88. 
"  Whims  of  Galatea,"  80. 
Whitehead,   William,  22. 
White  Mart  Inn,  5. 
"  White  Lies,"  200. 
"Widow's  Victim."  135,  195. 
"Wife,"  (34,  r3S. 
Wiguell,  Thomas,  32  note,  65, 

68,  91,99- 
Wignell,  Mrs.  (Anne  Brunton, 

Mrs.  M.  11  >, ),  63-66,  1 
Wilkinson,      Tate,     preface,    8 

note,  27,  29,  42,  43,  48  note, 

226. 
Wilks,  Robert,  223,  224. 
"  Will,  The,"  82. 
William    IV.   of  England,    41 

note. 
"William  Tell,"  80,  134. 
Williams,  Barney,  17S. 
Williams,  Mrs,  Barney,  1 78. 
Williams,  Mr.  (manager),  25. 


Williams,  P.,  142. 
Williamson,Mr.  (vocalist),  140. 
Willis,   Mrs.    (Mrs.    Proctor). 

See  Hester  Warren. 
Willis,  X.  P.,  78. 
••  Willow  Copse,"  1S0. 
Wilmington,  Del.,  179. 
Wilmot,  Mr.,  124. 
Wilmot,     Mrs.     (Mrs.     Webb, 

Mrs.  Marshall),   80;    sketch 

of,  124  note. 
Windsor,  Eng.,  4,  30. 
Winston,  James,  preface,  34. 
Winter  Garden  Theatre,  New 

York,  1S2-184,  199,  200. 
"  Winter's  Tale,"  16. 
"Wise  Man  of  the  East,"  87. 
rington,  Peg,  '0,  39. 
v,  Gen.,  40. 
,  Mr.  (of   Pynn),  32-34, 

36.  39>  51- 
"  Woman's  Wits,"  157. 

"  Wonder,  The,"  18. 
Wood,  Mr.  (artist),  149  note. 
Wood,  Miss.     See  Mrs.  Thom- 
as Jefferson  1st. 
Wood,  Mrs.  John,  1S3,  1S4. 
Wood,  Rose,  218  note. 
Wood.  William  B.,  preface,  34, 
65-67,  68-71,  76,  77,  95,  160, 
ior,  102  note,  103,  108,  117, 
120.  r68,  [89,  195  note. 

,  Mrs.  William  B.  (Juli- 
ana   Westray),   66,    70,    77, 
104,  117. 
"  Woodcock's    Little    Came," 

200. 
"  Woodman's  Hut,"  134  note. 
Woodward,   Henry,  12,  23,   24, 
39.  226. 

'sworth,  William,  41,  137, 
164. 

;nl  226. 
ht,  J  lines  Sturtois,  96,  147. 
ht,Mrs.  J.  S.     See  Mary 

e  Jefferson. 
herley,  William,  225 


252 


INDEX. 


Yates,   Frederick    Henry, 

187,  188  note. 
Yates,  Richard,  24,  39. 
York,  England,  29  note. 
Young,  Dr.  Edward,  20,  22. 
"  Young  Quaker,"  79. 
"  Young  Widow,"  157. 


"  Zara,"  34. 
"  Zembuco,"  69,.  125. 
"  Zenobia,"  15. 
"  Zingis,"  15. 
"  Zorinski,"  81. 
Zsokke     (or     Zschokke), 
Henry  Daniel,  84. 


John 


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1  vol.     16mo.    $1.25. 

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Child's  History  of  Englaud.     24  Illustrations. 

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,•' 


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EWING'S  (Mrs.  Emma  P.)  Cooking  and  Castle-Building 

lvol.    16mo.    $1.00. 
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HOUSE  HOLD  FRIENDS  for  Every  Season.     10  Steel 

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GERALD] NE :  A  Souvenir  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  poet- 
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HARTT'S   (Professor    C.    F.)     Geology  and    Physical 

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A  List  of  Books  Published  by 


HAYWARD'S   (Almira   L.)     The    Illustrated    Birthday 

Book  of  American  Poets.  Revised  and  enlarged  edition,  with  index 
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HOWELLS'S  (William   D.)     A   Fearful  Responsibility, 

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KEENE'S  (Charles)   Our  People.      400   Pictures  from 

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POE'S  (Edgar  Allan)  Select  Works,  Poetical  and  Prose. 

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PRESTON'S  (Miss  Harriet  W.)  The  Georgics  of  Ver- 
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PUTNAM'S  (J.   Pickering)    The  Open   Fireplace  in  all 

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RENAN'S   (Eum.st)  English   Conferences.      Rome    and 

Christianity:    Marcus   Aurelius.      Translated    hy    Claka    Ekskine 
Clement.    IvoL    Miuo.    76  cent* 


6  A  List  of  Books  Published  by 


ROUND-ROBIN    SERIES    (The).       A    new   series    of 

anonymous  novels  by  the  best  writers.  Each  novel  is  complete  in 
one  volume.  lOmo.  $1.00.  Now  ready:  A  Nameless  Nobleman, 
A  Lesson  in  Lpve,  The  Georgians,  Patty's  Perversities,  Ilomoselle. 

SARGENT'S  (Mrs.  John  T.)  Sketches  and  Reminiscences 

of  the  Radical  Club.  Illustrated.  1  vol.  12mo.  Clotb,  $2.00. 
Full  gilt,  $2.50.    Half-calf,  $4.00. 

SENSIER'S  (Alfred)  Jean-Francois  Millet:  Peasant  and 
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SHAKESPEARE'S  WORKS.  Handy- Volume  Edition. 
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antique,  $15.00. 

SHALER   (Professor  N.  S.)  and  DAVIS'S  (Wm.  M.) 

Illustrations  of  the  Earth's  Surface.  Part  I.  Glaciers.  Copiously 
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SHEDD'S  (Mrs.  Julia  A.)  Famous  Painters  and  Paint- 
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1  vol.    12mo.     Cloth,  $3.00.    Half-calf,  $5.00.    Tree-calf,  $7.00. 

Famous  Sculptors  and  Sculpture.  With  13  full- 
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Tree-calf,  $7.00. 

SHERRATT'S  (R.  J.)   The  Elements   of   Hand-Railing. 

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SIKES'S  (Wirt)  British  Goblins,  Welsh  Folk-Lore,  Fairy 

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SPOONER  (Samuel)  and  CLEMENT'S   (Mrs.  Clara 

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SWEETSER'S    (M.  F.)    Artist-Biographies.      Illustrated 

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Vol.    II.    Titian,  Guido  Reni,  Claude  Lorraine. 

Vol.  III.     Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Turner,  Landseer. 

Vol.  IV.    Diirer,  Rembrandt,  Van  Dyck. 

Vol.    V.    Fra  Angelico,  Murillo,  Allston. 
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SYMONDS'S     (John    Addixgton)     New    and    Old:    a 

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TENNYSON'S   (Alfred)    A    Dream    of    Fair   Women. 

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Ballads     and    other     Poems.        Author's 

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Poems.     Illustrated  Family  Edition.     Full 


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TOWNSEND'S  (S.  Nugent)  Our  Indian  Summer  in  the 

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UPTON'S  (George  P.)  Woman  in  Music.     With  Helio- 

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VIOLLET-LE-DUC  S  (E.-E.)  Discourses  on  Architecture. 
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. Discourses       on        Architecture. 

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The  Habitations  of    Man   in   all 


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Annals  of  a  Fortress.      With  85 


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WARREN'S    (Joseph   II.,    M.D.)   A  Practical    Treatise 

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Will  ST,  American  or  Standard.      By  G.  W.  P.     Second 

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WHITTIE1VS    (John    G.)    Poems.      Illustrated    Family 

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WINCKELMANN'S    (John)    The    History  of    Ancient 

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ings. 2  vols.  Svo.  Cloth,  $9.00.  Half-calf,  §1S.OO.  Morocco 
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WINTER'S  (William)  Poems.     Revised  Edition.     1vol. 

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The  Life,  Stories,  and  Poems  of  John  Brougham. 


Edited  by  W.  Winter.    1  vol.    12mo.    Illustrated.    $2.00. 

Fit/.- James    O'Brien's    Tales,    Sketches,    and 


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NEW  BOOKS  FOR  AUTUMN  PUBLICATION. 

To  be  Published  in  October. 

CLARKE'S  (Rev.  James  Freeman)  Events  and  Epochs 

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Illustrations.     $3.00. 

COOKE'S  (George  Willis)  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  :    His 

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DATILGREN'S    (Mrs.    Madeline    Vinton)     South-Sea 

Sketches.    1  vol.    12mo.     $1.50. 

GUSTAFSON'S  (Mrs.  Zadel  Barnes)  Genevieve  Ward. 

A  Biographical  Sketch  from  Original  Material  derived  from  her 
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HASSARD'S  (John  R.  G.)    A   Pickwickian   Pilgrimage. 

1  vol.    Small  16mo.     $1.00. 

HOUSE'S  (Edward  II  )  Japanese  Episodes.  1  vol. 
16mo.    $1.00. 

HOWARD'S  (Blanche    Willis)   Aunt   Serena.      1  vol. 

16mo.     $1.25. 

HUTCHINSON'S  (Ellen  M.)  Songs  and  Lyrics.     1  vol. 

lGmo.     $1.25. 

JOHNSTON'S  (Elizabeth  Bryant)  Original  Portraits  of 

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MADDENS   (Frederic   W.,  M.R.A.S.,   M.  Num.  Soc, 

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and  a  plate  of  Alphabets.    $12.00. 

NORTON'S  (C.  B.)  American  Inventions  and  Improve- 
ments in  Breech-Loading  Small  Arms,  Heavy  Ordnance,  Machine 
Guns,  Magazine  Anns,  Fixed  Ammunition,  Pistols,  Projectiles,  Ex- 
plosives, and  other  Munitions  of  War,  including  a  chapter  on  Lit'r- 
Saving  Projectiles  and  Sporting  Arms.  Second  edition,  revised  and 
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ings on  wood,  steel  plates,  lithographs,  and  plates  in  color.     $10.00. 

PALMER'S   (Mrs.    Henrietta  Lee)   Home-Life   in   the 

Bible.  Edited  by  John  W.  Palmer.  With  220  Illustrations.  Full 
octavo.    $5.00.     By  subscription  only. 


A  List  of  Books  Published  by 


PERCTS  (Townsexd)  A  Dictionary  of  the  Stage.     1  vol. 

12mo.     $2.00. 

PL YMP TON'S  (Miss  A.  G.)  The  Glad  Year  Round.  A 
new  juvenile,  of  the  style  which  Walter  Crane  and  Kate  Greenawaj 
have  made  so  popular;  beautifully  printed  in  colors  throughout, 
with  original  and  entertaining  poetry.  Square  octavo,  with  illumi- 
nated covers.     $2.50. 

POETS    AND    ETCHERS.      A    sumptuous   volume   of 

twenty  full-page  etchings,  by  James  D.  Sraillie,  Samuel  Colman, 
A.  I''.  Iiillows,  11.  [t'arrer,  1.'.  Swain  Gifford,  illustrating  poems  by 
Longfellow,  Wbittier,  Bryant,  Aldrich,  etc.  Quarto.  Elegantly 
bound.    $10.00.    Also  limited  editions  on  China  and  Japan  paper. 

WHITMAN'S    (Walt)    Leaves  of    Grass.       Containing 

the  matter  comprised  in  his  former  volumes,  with  his  latest  poems. 
With  portrait.     1  vol.     12mo.     $2.50. 

WILLIAMS'S   (Alfred    M.)   The   Poets   and    Poetry  of 

Ireland.  With  Historical  and  Critical  Essays  and  Notes.  An 
exhaustive  compilation  of  the  best  verses  of  the  Irish  poets  from  the 
earliest  times  to  the  present.     1  vol.     12mo.     $2.00. 

WINTER'S  (William)  The  Jeffersons.     Vol.  II.  of  the 

American-Actor  Series.    1  vol.     12mo.    $1.25. 


To  be  Published  in  November. 

BACON'S  (IIf.nry)  Parisian  Art  and  Artists.     Copiously 

illustrated.     1  vol.     Square  8vo.    $3.00. 

CLARKE'S    (Mrs.    Asia    Hootii)    The   Elder    and    the 

Younger  Boolh.  Vol.  1 1 1.  of  the  "  American-Actor  Series."  Illus- 
trated.    1  vol.     12mo.     $1.25. 

CLEMENTS   (Clara    Erskine)    Eleanor   Maitland.     A 

Novel.     1  vol.     lGmo.     $1.25. 

GONSE'S  (Louis)  Eugene  Fromentin,  Painter  and  Writer : 

translated  from  the  French.  Copiously  illustrated.  1  vol.  Bquare 
8vo.     |3.00, 

HOWELLS'S  (William  D.)  Dr.  Breen's  Practice.      1  vol. 

12mo.     $1.50. 

NORTON'S  (C.  B.)  Heavy   Ordnance,    Siege  and   Naval 

'mim-,  Llghi  Artillery,  Machine  (inns,  Life-Saving  Ordnance  and 
Projectiles,  as  manufactured  i>\  the  Soutb  Boston  [ron  Company. 
1  vol.    Quarto. 


James  R.  Osgood  &  Co. 


SHALER'S  (Professor  N.  S.)  and  DAVIS'S  (William 

M.)  Illustrations  of  the  Earth's  Surface.  Volume  II.  Quarto, 'with 
many  Heliotypes.     $10.00. 

WALKER'S  (Rev.  J.  B.  R.)  A  New  and  Enlarged  Con- 

cordance  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  most  perfect  Concordance  of 
the  Bible  in  the  English  language.  It  contains  over  forty  thousand,  or 
one-fifth,  more  references  and  quotations,  than  Cruden's  Unabridged, 
which  has  been  the  standard  for  a  century.  It  contains  three  limes 
as  many  names  of  persons  and  places  as  Cruden's,  each  one  accentu- 
ated, so  as  to  show  its  exact  pronunciation,  and  having  also  copious 
and  exhaustive  references  and  quotations.    1  vol.    8vo. 

WARE'S  (Professor  William  R.)  Modern  Perspective. 

For  Architects,  Artists,  and  Draughtsmen.  1  vol.  12mo.  With 
Atlas  of  Plates  in  oblong  folio. 

WHEELER'S    (William    A.)    Familiar    Allusions.      A 

Handbook  of  Miscellaneous  Information,  including  the  names  of 
celebrated  statues,  paintings,  palaces,  country-seats,  ruins,  churches, 
ships,  streets,  clubs,  natural  curiosities,  etc.  Completed  and  edited 
by  Charles  G.  Wheeler.     1  vol.     12mo.    $2.50. 


To  be  Published  in  December. 

BARTLETT'S  (T.  H.)  The  Life  of  the  Late  Dr.  William 

Rimmer.  With  illustrations  from  his  Paintings,  Drawings,  and 
Sculpture.    1  vol.    Quarto.    Full  gilt.    $10.00. 

CLEMENTS  (Mrs.  Clara  Erskine)  Charlotte  Cushman. 

Vol.  IV.  of  the  American-Actor  Series.  Illustrated.  1  vol.  12mo. 
$1.25. 

TWAIN'S  (Mark)  new  book.     With  200  Illustrations  by 

the  best  artists.  Elegantly  bound.  1  vol.  Square  8vo.  Sold  by 
subscription  only. 

STILLMANN'S   (J.  D.  B.,  A.M.,  M.D.)  The   Horse  in 

Motion,  as  shown  in  a  series  of  views  by  instantaneous  photography, 
with  a  study  on  animal  mechanics,  founded  on  the  revelations  of  the 
camera,  in  which  the  theory  of  quadrupedal  locomotion  is  demon- 
strated. With  anatomical  illustrations  in  chromo,  after  drawings  by 
William  Hahn.  With  a  preface  by  Leland  Stanford.  1  vol.  Koya] 
quarto.    Fully  illustrated.     $10.00. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


SEP 


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AM 

7-4 


wv 


OCT   31385 
9€P18 1985 


4.9 


Form  L-9-15m-7,'32 


3     ^58  0103Q  8061 


fcfir 


NAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  410  948    4 


....■¥. 


